Kingdom Hearts: Volume One
by TheCommodore
Summary: This is my first story, a fanfic novelization of the first in the Kingdom Hearts series. Hope you KH fans enjoy it. All credit goes to the creators of KH, and I hold credit for the characters of my own design in this Fanfic.
1. The Awakening

Sora drifted through serene aquatic waters, his clothes flowing

about his thin form as he spiraled deeper into the strange waters, a few bubbles

managed to escape the spiky haired boys compressed lungs as he continued to drift deeper and

deeper into the abyss.

As Sora obliviously descended the waters he spoke to himself in his mind, setting

free the thoughts that had been troubling him for some time.

_I am having these strange dreams, but are they real? or are they all an illusion?_

Sora questioned to himself as he opened his shining blue eyes to behold the

rushing waters that were gently bringing him to the ocean bottom.

The boy let his gaze fall onto the ocean floor that awaited him below and was

treated to a different sight that left the boy blinded by its rays.

Sora opened his eyes to fins himself no longer drifting the ocean waves, instead he

stood upon the soft sandy beach of his home, the Destiny Islands. The boy

reached a hand toward the clothes he wore, a white on black jacket with shortened

sleeves over a red flannel shirt paired with a set of billowing red cargo pants.

Sora noted that the clothes were dry, as if he had never been adrift in the cool

waters. The boy expected his large yellow sneakers to be filled with the ocean

waters, but his dry feet and the absence of sloshing water proved otherwise.

Sora then turned his mind away from these mysteries when he saw the familiar

figure of his friend Riku standing in the shallow waters ahead of him.

Riku appeared content as the ocean breeze ruffled his long mane of light blue hair,

the boy also didn't appear to mind that his yellow tanktop and blue jeans had been

soaked by the ocean water as well.

Sora had begun taking a few steps toward the silent Riku when he saw the wave

that rose behind the boy, standing taller than both of them. Riku then turned to

face Sora, his sharp face hinting at amusement as he observed Sora with sky blue

eyes that blended with the waters in which he stood up to his calves.

Riku then extended his arm toward Sora and offered his gloved hand, as if daring

the boy to enter the waters. Sora sprinted toward Riku, wondering if the boy was

aware of the large wave that threatened to drown him under its turquoise surface.

Sora reached the boy, but the wave did as well and Sora found himself tumbling

through the ocean water that rushed at his small form, preventing him from

gaining any control over his movement.

Sora then saw Riku standing as he had on the water surface, one hand extended

toward Sora, sky blue eyes shining. Sora tried to kick himself over to take Riku's

offered hand, but the water pulled him back.

The boy then arose to the waters surface and emerged upon the sun's last twilight

upon the distant horizon, Sora could see that everything was covered in an orange

glow, even the waters on which he now floated.

Sora then heard shouting and looked to find his friend Kairi waving to him from

the sandy beach shore. Sora wondered if he had really been in the water so long

that the sun had come and gone, he also wondered if Riku had managed to swim

back to shore safely.

Sora felt his exhaustion come onto him as he reached the shore, Kairi stood over

him as he knelt in the soft wet sand, her warm face framed by its short red hair

watching him through her Lilly green eyes.

The girl couldn't help but giggle when the boy let out a string of complaints, most

of them involving the swim back to shore. Suddenly ger gaze went beyond Sora

and instead fell onto the darkening twilight lit skies above.

Sora looked to see what had gotten the attention of the girl and was faced with an

awesome sight.

Shining comets were descending from the skies, their shining tails guiding them

toward the ocean surface. However the comets were not the thing that caught the

attention of Kairi and Sora as well.

Falling alongside the comets was the figure of a boy, it was only as the boy got

closer to the ocean surface that Sora recognized the falling boy to be himself. Sora

was confused beyond a doubt, how could he be in two places at once, and why

was he falling in the first place.

Before Sora could answer these questions himself he felt a sudden dizziness and felt himself falling backward back into the calm seas.

Kairi cried out to Sora, but the boy could no longer control himself from his plight

and he then felt himself splash into the water, only the sea and all else were gone,

now Sora was falling through the skies alongside the shining comets.

Sora saw Kairi in ripples above him, her face was filled with worry and she was

reaching a hand toward Sora, but the boy was back where he had began, drifting

in the ocean deep.

Sora felt his feet find purchase upon a surface that was unlike the sandy ocean

bottom he had expected. Sora looked about him but all that he saw was darkness,

the only light came from above Sora, from what he could only guess to be the

ocean surface, but was he still in the ocean?

Sora took a step forward and was forced to shield his eyes with the sleeve of his

jacket as light shined and spread forth, brining to life the platform upon which the

boy stood. Sora could see the platform held the glowing image of a young raven

haired woman, surrounded by smaller images of forest creatures and a number of

dwarves.

Sora looked up as the platform had been fully revealed and saw doves flying off

into the darkness, leaving behind a shower of their white feathers.

_Were those doves covering this platform? And where are they going? Am I still in_

_the ocean? Is this all a –? _Sora began to question himself, when a voice ( not his own) announced itself in his head.

_So much to do, so little time.... _the voice spoke in his mind, Sora jumped back in

fright as the voice rang through his head, a voice that the boy just couldn't place,

yet it seemed familiar to him.

"Who are you?" Sora demanded, but he got no response from the strange voice.

_Take your time, don't be afraid._ The voice continued, sounding as if it were trying

to reassure the boy of something.

"Don't be afraid of what?" Sora asked the voice, but again it ignored his inquiries.

_The door is now shut_ the voice said to the boy, pausing as if to think.

Before Sora could question it again, the voice spoke a command.

_Walk forward_ the voice ordered without any strict command, for the voice knew

the boy would obey it without question, after all it was the only guide to Sora in

this strange dream, or was it a dream? Sora honestly could not tell any longer.

Sora did as the voice asked and took a few steps forward, his footfalls echoing as

he cautiously made his way across the platform.

_Good, now you will choose._ The voice spoke, suddenly Sora watched as three

pedestals rose from the surface of the platform, floating upon each was a weapon.

Sora walked about the white pedestals, silently observing the weapons he passed.

The boy saw a shield dominated by a tri circled emblem that looked almost like

the profile of a mouse head, he also saw a scepter topped with the same blue

mouse head, and finally came the weapon that caught the attention of the boy.

A golden blade rested atop the final pedestal, its fine edge refracting the light that

glowed from the floor of the platform.

Sora knew that he chose the sword as his weapon and he walked over to sntach

the floating blade. Sora felt power as he held the weapon in his hands.

Great power sleeps within you, if you give it form....it will give you strength. the

voice spoke in Sora's mind.

"I choose to weild the blade" Sora informed the voice, his bright eyes searching

for the mysterious guiding entity, surly the voice couldn't be in his mind alone, it

had to possess a body.

_You choose the power of the warrior, invincible courage, a sword of terrible destruction, _

_Is this the power you seek? _the voice asked, brinigng Sora to suddenly doubt in his decision

to weild the chosen weapon, but the again the voice had mentioned invincible courage to

the boy.

"Yes I choose this blade" Sora answered, trying to sound confindent about his choice.

_Then your path is set_ the voice responded, suddenly the sword disappeared from Sora's hand

in a flash of light.

_But what will you give up in exchange?_ the voice questioned, prompting Sora to turn and face the remaining

two pedestals and the weapons they housed.

Sora's gaze fell onto the shield.

_Who would want a crummy shield?, its more for defense than an actual weapon. _Sora thought to himself, the boy then picked up the

shield and examined its surface, surprised by just how light it actually was.

_The power of the guardian, kindness to aid friends, a shield to repel all._ the voice spoke, its words causing Sora to second guess

himself again.

_Will you give up this power? _the voice asked him, Sora thought over the decision and decided that he would indeed give up the shield

in return for his chosen blade, after all this was all a dream really, none of this would really effect him, or would it?

"Yes I give up the power of the guardian" Sora told the voice, and as before the shield disappeared in a flash of light.

_The first step is now complete. _the voice announced, Sora then felt the pedestal upon which he stood topple forward as it along

with the other two sank into the platform which was slowly beginning to shatter.

Sora watched in horror as the platform quickly fell to pieces, its glass shards thrown into the darkness as it made its progress

in reducing the entire set. Finally the destruction reached Sora and he felt himself cry out as he fell into the darkness, the tinkle

of the glass shards echoing about him.


	2. The Awakening: Part II

Sora had expected himself to plummet to his death, but instead the boy

floated gently onto another of the strange platform, only this one depicted a blond

haired woman dressed in a blue ball gown.

Sora settled gently onto the platform, as he did the sword reappeared in his hand in a flash of light.

_You have gained the power to fight. _the voice explained to Sora, who took a few moments to practice

with the blade.

_Thats it, now you have got the hang of it! _the voice spoke again, this time it sounded delighted that Sora had managed to

swing the sword with ease.

_There shall come times when you will have to fight. _the voice began as strange creatures began to arise from the paltform.

The creatures were only a few feet tall and prowled about upon clawed hands and feet, their yellow lamp like eyes scanning the space ahead of them,

while their antennae atop their head twitched in time with the beat of Sora's heart.

"What are those thi --?" Sora began to ask the voice, but one of the creatures lowered itself until it was a low shadow upon the

ground, when it was in this form it slithered behind the boy.

_Look out! _the voice warned, interupting him in mid sentence, Sora heard the warning in his head and he turned just as the creature sprang.

The little shadow creature swiped at him with deadly claws, Sora barely managed to bring up his sword in time to block the blow.

The creature's claws were deflected by the sword blade with a clang of metal, Sora could feel the small creature as it tried to find a way past the sword,

Sora was surprised by its strength and its will to destroy him.

"I dont think so, there is no way you are getting your claws on me you little freak!" Sora shouted in challenge to the creature, he then shoved the beast back

and with a swing of his sword disposed of it.

The moment his blade swung through the little creature, it evaporated in a cloud of shadow. Sora couldn't believe that he had managed to slay one of the

creatures, but his victory was short lived, for the remainder of the shadow creatures now prowled about Sora, their antennae twitching in time and their

glowing yellow eyes searching for an opening in his defenses.

Another of the creatures sprang again, but Sora was ready this time and he disposed of the shadow as he had its precursor. The other shadow creatures,

after seeing another of their kind eliminated, all began to quiver and shake.

Sora watched as each of them sank to the floor, reduced to dark amoeba like blobs that slowly formed into a great sea of shadow that engulfed Sora.

The boy tried escaping the embrace of the darkness, but he found it to be like wading through wet sand, the darkness only seemed to cling to his

small form the more he seemed to struggle until finally he was lost. Sora could not even scream as the darkness filled his mouth, tasting foul and unnatural upon his tongue.

Sora had closed his eyes in his struggle against the embracing darkness, so when he did open his bright eyes he found himself surprised to find the

clinging shadow creatures gone and himself sitting upon a new platform, this one of three hearst joined together to form a triangle.

Sora then noticed the doorway that stood at the opposite end of the platform waited a magnificent thing of pink marble that was covered with curving shapes

and symbols.

Sora slowly walked over to the mysterious doorway, wondering what lay beyond its shut exterior.

_To continue onward, you must go through the doorway, are you ready?_ the voice asked Sora, suddenly the doorway lit up as if there was a great light

waiting upon its otherside.

"I am ready" Sora answered the voice, as he did the doorway swung open and admitted a bright light that left Sora blind as he stepped through

onto whatever awaited him upon its otherside.


	3. The Awakening: Part III

Sora was surprised to find himself back on the Destiny Islands, only instead of

finding himself on the beach, Sora discovered he had landed on the upper landing of the

tree house the children of the Islands had built using the spare wood they had retrieved from

around town upon the main Island.

Sora felt relief flood him as the salty smell of the sea breezes tingled his nose and the sound of the

crashing waves reached his ears. However as Sora tried to descend the from the landing he was halted by the voice.

_Hold on, the doorway has yet to be opened._ the voice reminded the boy, halting Sora as he had begun to descend the

first steps leading to the docks and the beach.

"What do I have to do then?" Sora asked the voice, suddenly three of the other children from the Islands appeared standing before

him, watching him with expressions of curiosity.

_You will first have to answer just a few simple questions._ the voice said reassuringly, Sora then noted the same look of great power and wisdom

upon the faces of the three children, it was clear that the mysterious guiding voice had taken on the image of his friends

in order to allow him to feel more comfortable answering its list of inquiries.

"Ok then...um....whose wants to ask me a question first?" Sora said with a grin of embarassment, for though he knew the voice was

just trying to make him feel more comfortable answering questions by having them asked by the images of his friends, he still

found the staring eyes and look of complete seriousness upon there usually cheeful blissful faces unnerving to say the least.

The youngest, a boy by the name of Tidus stepped forward, his sandy hair and dark tanned skin a sharp contrast

to Sora's own.

"What are you afraid of most?" the boy asked, his voice, though it was his own, sounded stiff and narrated.

Sora thought hard about the question and finally came up with a suitable answer.

"Getting old" Sora answered, in his mind he remembered the talk his father had given to him not too many weeks before.

His father had felt it was time that Sora had gotten a talking about growing up into a man, and honestly he would

rather wish to remain young forever.

With his question answered Tidus stepped back and disappeared with the ocean breeze.

The next figure to step forth was a girl with curling brown hair and light green eyes, Sora reconized the girl as Selphie, one of Kairi's

close friends on the Island.

"What is most important to you in life?" Selphie asked the boy, her face and voice stoic just like the others.

Sora didn't have to think long and hard before he had a clear answer.

"Friendship" the boy answered, his thoughts showing him his closest friends on the Islands, Kairi and Riku.

Selphie did not reply to the answer, simply gave Sora a nod of her head and disappeared with the Ocean breeze like Tidus.

Now only one child remained and it was Wakka, a tall athletic boy with cropped blond hair and dark tanned skin. Sora rarely saw the

boy without a volleyball in hand, for Wakka was always up for a match by the Ocean shore.

"Well looks like I have only one question left to answer, lay it on me Wakka" Sora said with a confident smile, but the other boy did not

share in Sora's amuesment.

"What do you want out of life?" Wakka asked the boy, who took a few moments to think about the question, what did he want out of life?

Then Sora recalled all the times Riku had beaten him in their sword matches, of course the swords had really been made of wood, but the

sting of defeat had still been the same, especially when Riku would rub his victory in Sora's face with a laugh.

"I want to be strong" Sora spoke after a time, in his mind he could see himself using his new blade in a battle against Riku, and the look

upon his face as his sword was cut down easily by Sora's shining sword.

Suddenly the voice returned and interupted his thoughts of victory over Riku.

_Friendship is most important to you, you wish to be strong, and you fear becoming old_ the voice spoke, listing out Sora's chosen answers to the questions

that had been asked of him.

"So what now?" Sora asked the voice, but it paid no heed to his question.

_Your adventure shall begin at dawn. As long as your sun is shining your journey should be a pleasant one_ the voice told the boy, who only looked off

toward the seas that stretched into the distance, again Sora wondered whether all this was a mere dream, or something more.

"Sounds good to me" Sora said to the voice, who then continued speaking to the boy in his thoughts.

_The day you will open the door is both far off and very near._ the voice told Sora, who suddenly experienced that same flash of light in his vision, just as when the

doorway had opened to admit him here to the tree house here on the Islands.


	4. The Awakening: Part IV

Sora's eyes adjusted to find himself no longer on the Destiny Islands, the boy had returned back to the platforms.

Sora noticed that his current platform was a depiction of a blond haired beauty in a pink dress ringed by what appeared to be thorns and clutching a rose in her hands.

Sora took a few steps forward looking for a sign of what he was to do next, but the boy saw nothing. Suddenly one of the shadow creatures slithered forward

from the image of the twisting thorns.

Sora felt the sword reappear in his hands in its familiar flash of light, but along with the sword came more of the shadow creatures. Sora watched the creatures surround him,

cutting off any chance of escape.

"I could use some help, voice" Sora whispered to himself, but the voice did not return his plea for assistance. One of the shadows then sprang and Sora slashed at the creature and

destroyed it, but then more of the creatures sprang forward to attack and Sora felt himself hard pressed to fight.

One of the shadows managed to slip beneath Sora's defenses and swipe his turned back with one its deadly claws. Sora cried out in pain from the wound he had just sustained, but

strangely when Sora brought a hand to his back he found no blood. Sora did not have time to dwell on the mystery for long, he still had to deal with the other shadow creatures.

The creatures all fell beneath Sora's blade and once the boy was sure that not a single one remained did he lower the sword again. Suddenly Sora heard a tinkling melody and only

once he had looked up did he see the path of stained glass that led over the side of the platform, dissapearing into the darkness beyond.

Sora approached the strange path and felt that his only way forward toward the opening of the "door" the voice had spoken of in Sora's thoughts. As the boy took a step forward he was

relieved to find that the path was stable and he then ascended the glass steps quickly until he reached another of the gazed around him and saw that this one showed a

brown haired woman dressed in a golden gown.

The voice suddenly spoke once again in Sora's head, only this time it sounded almost sinister.

_The closer you get to the light, the greater your shadow shall become._ the voice spoke, as it did Sora glanced back at his shadow and

was frightened when it suddenly arose from its place at his feet, taking a three dimensional shape before the boy's unbelieving eyes. Suddenly his shadow

grew larger until it towered over him, bat wings grew from its shoulderblades and writhing tentacles covered its face, only yellow lamp like eyes could be viewed

under the dark tentacles. Sora also noted the large hearts shaped hole in its pure black form as fled from the nightmarish being.

In his head the voice spoke, and though Sora tried his best to ignore it, he found that its spoken words echoed in his thoughts.

_You must not be afraid, and you must never forget....._ the voice began to say to the boy before suddenly falling silent again.

"Dont forget what!?" Sora cried out, but as usual the voice did not respond to his questioning. Suddenly Sora found that he had reached the end of the platform,

the boy barely managed to stop himself from plummeting off into the waiting darkness.

Behind him the great shadow took some steps toward Sora, the boy turned to face the creature with his sword back in hand.

"Fine, if its a fight you want, then bring it on!" the boy shouted to his shadow, who suddenly brought his fist down.

Sora barely managed to avoid the crash of the creature's clawed fist, a few seconds more and he would have been crushed. When Sora did turn back he found that

where the creature had slammed down its fist was now a swirling sea of darkness from which arose the pesky shadow creatures the boy had

grown to hate in this strange dream world.

Sora saw the creatures large hands as a perfect target and he quickly went in to attack the large claw of the creature, and at the same time kept the

smaller shadow beings at bay with his blade.

The boy noted that as he hit the hands of creature he seemed to be breaking down the darkness and shadow that made up its form. Sora then remembered

the words of the voice.

_As you get closer to the light, the greater your shadow shall become_. the words of the voice replayed in his mind as the shadow suddenly took on a change in tactics.

Sora jumped back as the creature fell to its knees and crossed its long arms over the heart shaped hole in its chest, which suddenly began to glow with an eerie

blue light.

Glowing balls of light suddenly began to shoot from the shadows chest, circling about and searching for none other than Sora. Some of the balls found Sora and when they did they

threw themselves against him. However Sora was prepared for this and he dodged out of the path of the glowing orbs and even deflected a few off his sword.

Soon the light in the creatures chest faded out and when it did the shadow collapses in exaustiion, Sora then took this chance to attack the hands of

the creature once more.

The shadow then appeared to have regained back the strength it had lost in its battle as it rose back onto its feet just as Sora's blade suddenly disappeared in

its bright flash of light.

"Hey!" Sora shouted in anger, for he knew that the battle was not won yet. The boy needed the blade if he was to defeat his shadow, yet the voice who

controlled this strange dream seemed to have a different set of plans in mind.

Suddenly the shadow began to punch at the boy, ripping open holes of the swirling dakness as he did. Sora barely avoided being crushed beneath the

creatures show of strength. However the boy felt fatigue suddenly take a hold onto him and he fell to the ground with the great shadow watching him with its glowing

yellow eyes.

Sora was expecting the creature to attack him while he was down, but instead it held itself back and Sora did not realize why until he began to feel himself sink. The

boy then looked down and saw that he was being consumed by the ocean of darkness.

_-- but do not be afraid _the voice returned in his mind as he struggled against the pull of the darkness.

_You hold the mightiest weapon of all._ the voice assured Sora, whom could not question the words of the voice as he had sunk into the darkness up to his sparkling

blue eyes.

_So dont forget:_ the voice continued, meanwhile the darkness had finally completed its goal and Sora was now completely swallowed by it, yet he still heard the final words of the

voice.

_You are the one who will open the door. _Sora heard the voice say in farewell as his dream came to its dark end.


	5. The Destiny Islands

Sora slowly opened his eyes to view the blazing sun overhead surrounded by bright blue skies.

The boy slowly sat up, noticing that he lay on the beach with both feet soaking in the clear waters. Sora

felt some relief to know that he was alive and back on the Islands after being devoured by that horrible

darkness.

_It was only a dream_ the boy told himself, yet it had all seemed to real, from the shadows to the blade, and most especially

the strangely familiar voice that had acted as his guide as he progressed across the platforms, but what made Sora wonder

whether it had all been a dream or if it had all been as real as his Island and friends was what the voice had told him just as he

was being taken by the darkness.

_You are the one who will open the door_ the voice had told him in the strange otherworld, and now that Sora thought about it he

remembered a strange doorway in the place just beyond the waterfall, could this be the door, the voice had been speaking

of?

Sora suddenly felt wiped out and with a long yawn he lowered himself back onto the ground and prepared for a nap, hopefully

this one would not contain evil shadows and mysterious talking voices, or some strange door.

Unfortunately Sora did not get the rest he was hoping for, instead he got a scare that fully awoke him.

"Sora?" Kairi questioned the boy as she stood gazing down at him lying in the surf.

"Whoa!" Sora cried out in surprise, quickly sitting up on his knees in the soft sand and turning to face the girl, who let out amused

laughter at the boy's cry of terror.

"Gimme a break Kairi" Sora said with a sight bit of annoyance, yet he found that he truly could not stay mad at the girl for long.

"Sora, you lazy bum. I knew that I would find you snoozing down on the beach" the girl with a smile and a wink to the boy.

"No you do not understand, this huge black thing swallowed me up. I could not breath, I could not --" the boy began trying to explain to the girl,

but she brought him to silence with a hard knock to the head.

"Ow!, what was that for?" the boy cried out in pain, rubbling his sore head and gazing at the girl with confusion.

"I had to see if you were still dreaming" the girl answered simply, Sora however was brought back to his original question, had

it all been a dream? or had it been something more?

"You are the one who will open the door" Sora quoted aloud, earning a concerned look from Kairi.

"Are you sure you are ok, do I need to give you another knocking?" the girl said with a joking grin to cover her true concern for the boy.

"No I do not need any more knocks on my head, thank you. I was just thinking whether it had all been a dream or something more" Sora

tried explaining to the girl, but she only seemed to become more confused.

"Something more?" the girl quoted as a question, her eyes sparkling with curiosity.

"I don't know" Sora answered honestly, finding no words to explain just what he thought the dream to be, a vision?, no, maybe a glimpse into

the future?

"Whatever that place was, it was plenty bizarre" Sora whispered to himself, gazing out onto the sea and wondering if the platforms and the

voice were awaiting him at its bottom.

"Yeah, sure" Kairi spoke behind him with a laugh, breaking the boy's thoughts as he watched her pass him to stand by the Ocean edge, gazing out onto the distant horizon

with a look of longing.

"Say, Kairi. What was your hometown like? You know, where you grew up" Sora asked the girl as he got to his feet.

"I told you before, I don't remember" Kairi answered with a laugh, but Sora could see that it saddened her to have no memory of

her life before the Islands.

"Nothing at all?" Sora inquired further, but the girl shook her head slightly against the sea breeze.

"Nothing" the girl answered simply, her smile falling into a sad frown.

"Do you ever want to go back?" Sora asked the girl, curious to see if the girl preferred the Islands over a place lost in her memories.

"Well, I am happy here" the girl answered, but Sora could see that she was not speaking all that was on her mind.

"Really..." the boy challenged as a silence fell, broken only by the sound of the surf as it washed over the girl up to her ankles.

"But you know.... I would not mind going to see it" Kairi spoke after a time.

"I would like to see it too. Along with any other worlds out their" Sora began, his eyes lighting up with excitement.

"I want to see them all" the boy finished in a whisper.

"So what are we waiting for?" the girl asked, turning to face the boy with a bright smile.

"Hey!" a voice interupted behind them.

Both of the children turned to face Riku, his long light blue hair hanging in his eyes and a log braced under one arm.

"Aren't you guys forgetting about me?" Riku said with a smile that revealed his set of perfectly even white teeth.

"So, I guess I am the only one working on the raft." Riku continued with a shake of his head, the boy then threw the log he held to Sora.

The younger boy let out a cry as the log hit him square in the chest and knocked the wind from his lungs.

"And you are just as lazy as he is" Riku said to the girl, placing both of his gloved hands upon his hips and staring long at hard at the girl,

whom let out a soft giggle at the boy's stern expression.

"So you noticed" Kairi said with a small laugh, suddenly the girl's eyes lit up.

"I got an idea, why don't we finish it together" the girl suggested with excitement, but both boy's only let out groans from where they sat on the

sands.

"Come on, it will be fun. We will make it into a race, whoever gets all the supplies first wins" the girl explained, knwing that she had the two boy's snagged now,

for both Riku and Sora were always tryign to outdo the other in competitions.

"Huh?" Sora questioned, lost in his thoughts of the door and the voice.

"What, are you kidding?" Riku said with a sneer, but Kairi only let out another giggle.

"Ready? Go!" Kairi shouted, both boy's only took a moment to gaze at each other before springing to their feet and running down the beach, kicking

up sand behind them.

"I got this competition in the bag!" Riku said with a confident laugh, gazing back at the younger boy with his sea blue eyes.

"I don't think so" Sora challenged, picking up speed.

Kairi just let out a laugh, no longer caring about her lost home, not when she had two of her greatest friends at her side forever.


	6. Preparations

Sora spent until sundown gathering supplies on the Island, only stopping

once he was sure he had collected a good half of the supplies they would be

needing for their coming journey by sea. All the other children on the Island had left

for home hours before.

"I am beat" Sora told Kairi in exhaustion, dropping a coil of rope at her

feet.

"Lets call it a day then, we can get the final things on the list tomorrow, we

will just have to be here bright and early tomorrow" the girl said, checking items

Sora had collected around the Island off the list she held.

Riku came up the beach behind them, hoisting two logs beneath either arm.

"Show off" Sora hissed under his breath as the boy dropped both pieces of wood

into the growing pile of supplies.

"What did you both stop for, we still have more to go don't we?" Riku asked out of

breath, wiping away the sweat upon his brow with the back of his hand.

"Sora and I both agree that we should call it a day, Riku" Kairi told the boy, who

nodded his head in agreement.

"Fine by me, but let me just take a rest before we paddle our boats back home" Riku

said, walking away from them both and heading toward the bridge spanning the water.

"Come on" Kairi said to Sora, rushing off to follow the older boy as he made his way down the

wooden bridge and over to the small Island that served as a common hangout for the three

friends.

Sora reached the two and took a seat beside Kairi upon a low curving Paupu tree, meanwhile

Riku stood leaning against its thick body. Sora could see that both were watching as the sun

continued to sink upon the distant horizon, bathing the Ocean and the Islands in its orange glow.

"So Kairi's home is out there somewhere, right?" Sora asked, breaking the silence.

"Could be" Riku answered, his gaze still on the distant horizon.

"All I know is that we shall never know by remaining here" the boy said with a hand gesture to

the Islands behind them.

"But how far can a raft take us?" Sora asked, bringing up a good point to the children, after all

could they really expect to get far upon a slab of wood in such a large body of water? It had been

thoughts that had nagged at Sora since Riku brought up his idea of traveling to the places that lay

outside their tiny Island home.

"Who knows?, if we have to we can think of something else" Riku answered with the sudden

expression of annoyance.

"So suppose we get to another world. What would you do there?" Kairi asked the boy with a

giggle. Riku then seemed to go silent with thought for a few moments.

"Well, I haven't really thought about it" the boy answered honestly, pausing for a few moments.

"Its just...I have always wondered why we are here on this Island. If there are any worlds out

there, why did we end up on this one?" Riku explained to them, pausing for some breath before

continuing.

"And suppose there other worlds....then ours is just a little piece of something much greater"

Riku finished, his voice showing his passion to travel off the Islands and explore the possible

worlds that lay beyond them.

"Nice way of summing it up, Riku" Sora teased with a wide grin.

"Shut up" Riku said, but the boy still couldn't help smiling at the boy's joke.

"The point I was trying to say was that we could just have easily ended up somewhere else,

right?" Riku asked them, growing serious once again.

"I don't know" Sora said, his voice showing he had grown bored of the subject, though he

knew Riku had brought up a good point.

"Exactly, tahst why we need to get out there and find out for ourselves. Sitting here on this Island

is not going to change a thing" Riku said with bitterness, sitting up and making his way to the

edge of the tiny Island.

Kairi studied the boy closely, as if she were trying to find the solution to a mathematical

equation.

"You have been thinking a lot lately, haven't you?" the girl said after a time of silence that

was only broken by the Ocean waves.

"Yes, thanks to you. If you had not come here, I probably would not have thought of any of this.

So I just want to say thanks, Kairi" Riku said, turning to face the girl, whose cheeks burned and

blushed pink under the orange twilight.

"Your welcome" the girl said with a small laugh to cover her embarrassment.

"Well if you are done making your speeches of other worlds and such, Riku, Then I am going

home catch you both tomorrow" Sora said in farewell, jumping off the tree trunk and walking

toward the bridge, Kairi shouted a goodbye to the boy as he began crossing the bridge.

It was when the boy had made it to the dock and was preparing to cast off for home on his boat

that he heard a shout behind him.

"Sora!" the voice shouted, causing him to turn about and find a breathless Riku approaching him.

"Yeah?" Sora asked as the boy got closer, suddenly the boy tossed a strange object held behind

him. Sora barely managed to catch the thing and not let it fall into the waters beside the dock.

Once it was in his hand Sora saw that it was a light yellow in color and in the shape of a star.

"What is it?" Sora asked, confused at why the boy had stopped to give him the strange yellow

star.

"It's a paopu fruit, you wanted one did you not?" Riku said with a knowing grin on his sharp

face.

"What?" Sora asked in confusion, prompting the boy to grin wider.

"If two people share one, their destinies become intertwined. They shall remain a part of each

other's lives no matter what" Riku explained to the boy, who still could not understand why the

boy had given him the fruit.

"I thought you might want to try one with Kairi, that's all" Riku teased, laughing at the angry

look upon Sora's face at his words.

"What are you two jokers up to?" Kairi asked with a curious expression as she walked onto the

dock, looking to the face of either boy.

"Nothing" Sora said quickly, tossing the fruit into the water and allowing the Ocean to claim it.

"Very well than" Kairi said with a laugh as she stepped into her boat, meanwhile Sora shot Riku

another angry look before stepping into his own vessel and rowing home.


	7. The Disney Castle

Donald Duck, court wizard to the King, waddled down the red carpeted halls of

Disney Castle. The duck wore the traditional conical hat and blue robes of a wizard of his stature.

Beside the wizard passed the enchanted broomsticks that acted as servants to the patrons of the

castle, cleaning up whatever messes turned up without complaint.

Donald soon stopped at a set of towering doors marked with the King's vigil, a mouse head.

The duck approached the doors and knocked a steady rhythm against their marble surface.

A small doorway then revealed itself and the wizard passed through without delay.

The hall of the King was enormous, stretching as large as a football field and dominated on both

sides by marble pillars that held against the high ceiling. The duck did not say it to the king's

face, but he felt the hall could do with a bit of construction to make it shorter, after all it could

get tiring day after day to walk up and down the length of the royal hall.

"Good morning, your Majesty" Donald quacked, inclining his head to the large gold ornate

throne at the halls end.

"It is nice to see you this morn --" the duck began greeting the King, until he noticed that the

monarch was absent from his golden seat. Suddenly the King's royal mutt, Pluto, emerged from

behind the throne with a letter bearing the King's seal held in his mouth.

It took the wizard a few moments to catch the dog before he managed to grab the letter the dog

held between its slathering jaws and even then the wizard found that the letter was covered in

the creatures slobber.

Once the duck had dried the letter with the hem of his robes he began to read it, but Donald could

not believe what he read and as he did his eyes began to widen in both shock and fear. The duck

emerged from the hall moments later shouting at the top of his lung, unbelieving of what the

King had done.

The duck then realized that the only other person he could trust with the news was the Captain of

the Disney Castle Guard, but when the duck went to the Captain's quarters he found them empty.

"Where could he have....There he is!" the duck began to ask himself as he wandered the empty

halls before sighting the Captain's armored form lain out in the gardens.

The duck ran through the beautiful garden courtyard of the Disney castle, passing shrubbery that

had been created into varying creatures and shapes by the wishes of the King.

Donald found the Captain slumbering by one of these sculpted pieces of shrubbery with his

armored helm open to allow the overhead to fall onto his snoring face.

"Goofy!" the court wizard shouted, but the Captain was fast asleep. The duck then grumbled to

itself about laziness before raising up his wand toward the heavens.

"Thunder!" the duck quacked, creating a lightning bolt that struck the Captain and awakening

him with a cry of pain.

The Captain then gazed around until his eyes fell upon the flustered wizard.

"Hey there Donald, good morning" Goofy said, raising on emailed fist in greeting to the wizard.

"No time Goofy, we have a serious problem, but you cannot tell anyone....." Donald said in a

whisper, looking out of the corners of his eyes for anyone that might be listening.

Goofy nodded his head slowly in understanding before his eyes suddenly lit up.

"Queen Minnie?" the Captain said, but the duck shook his feathered head vigorously.

"Not even the Queen" the duck said with an upturned bill.

"Daisy?" Goofy asked, but the duck only shouted his refusal at the Captain.

"No, its top secret" Donald said with an expression of annoyance.

"Good morning Ladies" Goofy said, gazing behind the wizard at the two figures who now stood

there with expressions of concern. The duck then slowly turned his head to face the Queen and her hand maiden, Daisy, both of whom were looking at the duck crossly.


	8. The Cavern Visitor

Sora and the others arrived back on the Island early that next morning as promised. Each of them immediatly began collecting

the items that remained unmarked upon Kairi's list. It took them each most of the morning but Sora finally reached the final item left on the list, deep grown

mushroomsfound only in the Islands secret cavern.

Sora approached the hidden cavern entrance by the waterfall, first taking a moment to look about and make sure none were watching. Once the boy was sure the coast was clear

he crawled beneath the vines that covered the secret entryway and found himself in a narrow cave that twisted deep into the Island's heart. The boy eventually emerged

in a cavern that was open to the sun, allowing it to pour into the cavern and shed light onto the drawings carved into the cavern rock.

As Sora walked through the cavern he felt his eyes drawn to the carved images, one of which depicted a warrior facing a large shadowy beast with sword upheld. The boy then looked

allowed his gaze to pass away from this frighteningly familiar image and instead come upon one that brought back warm memories to the boy.

The drawing showed a crudely drawn profile of Kairi and a well drawn image of Sora. In the drawing the two children were facing each other upon the rockwall, delight upon

their faces. Sora recalled to mind memories of younger Kairi and himself sitting upon the hard floor working out the image with stones. The boy then returned to the drawing with

a sudden idea.

Sora spent the next hour carving a new image to complete the he and Kairi's wall drawing, only stopping to admire his work once the carving was complete. The image now showed

a star that was shooting into the girl's open mouth. The image of the star reminded Sora of Riku's earlier joke about he and Kairi sharing one of the star shaped Paopu fruit.

"Destinies forever entwined no matter what" Sora spoke to himself in the silence of the cavern, running a finger along the tail of the star.

The boy then heard the sound of crunching gravel just behind him, whirling about to identify the source of the noise, the boy was surprised to find himself facing a mysterious figure

garbed in a brown cloak.

"Who are you?" Sora asked the figure, trying to keep the terror from sounding in his voice.

"I have come to see the door to this world" the cloaked figure said in a low voice that hinted at menace.

"What?" Sora said in confusion, but the figure ignored the boy's question and continued on.

"This world has been connected" the voice said, acting as though it were clearly obvious.

"Wh-- what are you talking about?" Sora insisted, beginning to feel a strange anger and hatred toward the strange figure, but why? what had the figure done to anger

him like this?

"Tied to the darkness.... soon to be completely eclipsed" the figure continued, now stepping from the shadows and coming into the light of the overhead sun.

"Well, whoever you are stop freaking me out like this. Huh" Sora began to shout at the figure before seeing the figure fully in the light.

"Where did you come from?" Sora asked, his anger and hate toward the mysterious cloaked being cooling down quite suddenly.

"You do not know what lies beyond the door, do you?" the voice said with cluck, pitying the boy.

"The door....wait I must be dreaming again, the doorway and the shadows, they were only in those strange dreams" the boy tried convincing himself, but the cloaked figure

only shook its cowled head slowly from side to side.

"It was no dream, the door is out there and it awaits its opening" the cloaked figure told the boy.

"So what then, are you from another world, is that how you know of the door?" the boy asked the strange figure, but they only turned their hidden face onto the strange

door that stood against the cavern wall.

"You have so vey much to learn, and you understand so little" the voice said with more pity for the boy, one hand rubbing the mysterious cavern door.

"Oh yeah" well you will see. I am going to get otu and learn just what is out there, ill show you!" Sora cried, his anger and hatred toward the figure returned.

"A meaningless effort. One who knows nothing can understand nothing" the cloaked figure said once more, moving away from the doorway and retreating back into the shadows.

"Wait!" Sora cried, racing after the figure, but they were gone. The boy could not understand where the figure had gone, but he soon remembered the mushroom he

had entered the cavern to retrieve and without further delay he found one of the luminous fungi and left the cavern and its mysterious doorway behind him.


	9. The King's Letter

At the Disney Castle: Queen minnie, Lady Daisy, Donald, and Captain Goofy all stood looking upon the King's letter in the castle study.

Here the King had shelves filled with books that spanned a variety of topics concerning the worlds that made up his kingdom. There were also a few

paintings upon the walls that showed the King's distant ancestors. However the gathered individuals payed heed to none of this, instead their focus lay

upon the slightly wet letter that sat on the King's desk among his pens and other untensils.

_Donald,_

_Sorry to rush off without saying goodbye, but there is big trouble brewing; I am not entirely sure why, but the stars have been blinking out one by one. And that _

_can only mean disaster isn't far behind. I hate to leave on such short notice, but it is my duty as King to look into this. _

_I know now that there is someone with a "key" out there -- the key to our kingdoms survival against this strange new threat. So that is why I have already taken the liberty to_

_prepare a ship to take you and Goofy to find this holder of the "key", and when you find him stick with him. Understand? _

_That "key" is our only hope in the coming darkness, without it we will surely be doomed! Your first stop will be Traverse Town, go there and ask for Leon, he will help you_

_for certain and point you in the direction of the "key". _

_P. S. _

_Would you apologize to Minnie for me?_

_Thanks, pal _

The letter read, ending in the King's seal as a means of authenticy and signature. Daisy was the first to look up from the letter with an expression of worry upon

her feathered face.

"Oh dear! what could all this mean?" the Queen's Duchess said with a concerned frown at the letter.

"It means that we will just have to trust in the King's decision" the Queen spoke, her voice heavy with emotion, for deep down she truly felt as worried as the others

about the state of her husband.

"Gawrsh, I hope he is all right" Goofy said quietly, bringing one mailed fist to stroke his whiskered chin in an expression of deep thought.

"Your Highness, do not worry yourself. We shall do as the King commands and find this "key" along with his Majesty, the King" the court wizard said with a sudden confidence.

"Thank you, both of you. You do this kingdom a great service" the Queen said with great gratitude toward the two.

"Daisy, can you take care of --?" Donald began to ask the Duchess, but she answered before the wizard could finish.

"Of course, You two just be careful out there, you know I worry about you Donald" Daisy said, causing the wizard to flush pink with embarassment.

"Oh yes, I almost forgot, how silly of me. There will be one more that shall be joining you both and keeping a chronicle of your travels" Queen Minnie said with sudden realization.

Both the Captain and the wizard gazed around for the mysterious third member, but saw no one.

"Over here!" a small voice suddenly cried, drawing their gaze to a small hopping figure dressed in a suit and hat, and gripping a small umbrella. Donald realized the figure

was about the size of just one of his fingers.

"I thought you would never notice me. The name is Jiminy Cricket, at your humblest service" the tiny well dressed creature said, with a low bow to them both.

"You want us to bring a little bug along for the journey?" Donald quacked in disbelief to the Queen.

"Don't worry, I will not be a burden to you both, for I know that you are tasked with an important mission by his Majesty" the Cricket assured the wizard.

"We hope for your safe return. Please help the King, he depends highly upon you both" the Queen continued, drawing attention back onto herself.

"You can count on us, your Highness" Donald said, reaching a hand for the tiny Chronicler. Meanwhile the Captain stood with back straight, saluting the duck.

"You are coming along too!" Donald said with annoyance, grabbing the Captain and dragging outside of the study.


	10. The Gummi ship

Donald, Goofy, and Jiminy made their way down the spiraling steps that lead deep into the castle interior, there destination was the

engineering shop of two of the kingdom's greatest Gummi building experts. According to the letter written by the King, he had already seen to the creation of a

Gummi ship of their own, for Gummi travel was the only travel for those on the go.

"So your world disappeared as well, Jiminy?" Goofy asked the small creature perched upon the top of his helmet.

"Yes, it was terrible. The streets were in pure chaos and people were becoming seperated and lost in it all" Jiminy explained to the Captain.

"So what happened then?" Donald asked, glancing back at the tiny creature.

"Well as our world began blinking out of its exisistence, everyone upon it found themselves scattered across to other worlds. Thats how I ended up here, but

as far as I know I was the only one" Jiminy said with a sudden sadness.

"Aww, don't feel bad Jiminy. Once we find the King and this Key, I am sure we will be able to bring back your world and help you find your friends" Goofy tried to

reassure the little creature.

"Goofy, Jiminy's talk of other worlds remindes me of one other thing the Queen told me before we left" Donald began, drawing the two's attention.

"That we can't let on where we are from while we visit the other worlds, right?" Goofy said, looking to the duck for assurance.

"Exactly, we must maintain the world order as the King would say" Donald answered, the thought of the King suddenly bringing a lump of sadness to his throat.

What had the King been thinking?, running off to stop evil when he could get seriously hurt.

"So we will probably need new duds when we get there, right?" Goofy asked the duck, bringing the court wizard out of his thoughts.

"Yes, we most certainly will" Donald said as the three companions stepped through the doorway to the workshop.

Inside the air was filled with the sound of the huffing and clunking of heavy machinery. Everywhere the three looked they found cogs and gears in formation, and upon the air was the

heavy smell of oil and metal.

The duck gazed around for the famed engineers that served in the workshops, but he found only more of the humming machinery.

"Uh, I think we use this here to speak to them, Donald" Goofy said, holding up a large megaphone like object that was connected to a long black tube that snaked off into the ceiling.

"Hmm, ok then" the wizard said, picking up the meganphone and holding it to his orange bill.

"Hello, this is Donald Duck and we are here for our ship" the wizard spoke into the object, pausing afterward and awaiting some responce.

"Hello Donald, the King told us you would be adventuring beyond the castle, so we took the liberty to create a Gummi ship for you" a high chittering voice spoke upon the otherside

of the megaphone.

Suddenly the sound of metal grinding open echoed about the workshop, and the three companions looked down and found a platform rising up to meet them.

Upon it was a magnificent red rocket with its cockpit protected by a clear bubble.

"Is that our ship?" Goofy siad in awe behind the duck, meanwhile Donald found trouble closing his mouth, which hung almost to the shining metal floor.

"Yup, this is her alright. She was specially made to carry you to your destinations with absolute ease" squeaked a tiny voice, and when all looked they found a tiny chubby

cheeked chipmunk standing by the ship wearing a smock over its furry body.

"Are you--?" Goofy began, but the chipmunk finished for him.

"One of the engineers behind the Gummi ship's used by his Majesty, indeed I am. Dale, at your service" Dale the chipmunk squeaked, offering a tiny paw to the Captain, whom shook it with an

extended pinky.

"Like the ship ok, I hope" the Queen chimed behind them, both Donald and Goofy then turned to give the mouse a deep bow.

"Very much, your Highness" Donald said gratefully, at his side Goofy nodded his head.

"Good, good. Hello Dale, where is your brother?" the Queen asked the tiny creature, who bowed to the mouse as well.

"Oh he is working up on the control console" Dale told her Highness, who then turned to gaze behind her as she heard a low bark.

Pluto then emerged and raced past the Queen, jumping into the ship's open cockpit.

"Oh, Pluto. get back here" demanded the Queen, but the royal mutt only plopped down upon one of the cushioned seats in the ships interior.

"Oh its ok your Highness. He can come along, he must be dying to see his master, the King" Donald said with a smile, the Queen shared his smile.

"Indeed, well you two best be off, the "key" and the King await" the Queen said, bringing the wizard and the Captain to express their agreement.

The Gummi ship slowly started up its engines and rose from the platform with Donald at its controls.

As the wizard brought the ship to face the heavy cargo doors, he glimpsed Daisy alongside the Queen and the two chipmunk engineers.

Donald gave the Duchess a wink as the heavy doors opened to admit them.

"I am going to miss this castle" Goofy said with a sniff from where he sat beside the duck.

"Do not worry, we will be back. And with the King and this "key" he speaks of" the wizard assured him.

Meanwhile the Queen and her loyal subjects watched as the ship rocketed off down the tunnel that led out of the castle and into the space beyond, where

the other worlds of the kingdom did lie.

"Please let them be safe, and please let them find the King and the "key" " the Queen prayed beneath her breath.


	11. A Restless Sleep

Sora sat upon his bed unable to sleep, his mind racing with the days events.

Sora recalled returning to Kairi with the mushrooms needed, the girl had looked up from the

shells she had been threading with a bit of string, explaining that she was making a necklace that

sailors would wear for protection upon long voyages.

The girl had thanked Sora once he concluded that all the supplies needed were gathered and the

raft ready for their coming voyage.

Sora and Kairi had then made their way back to the docks and to their waiting boats. Sora had

noticed that the girl seemed troubled, when she should be happy that came that time tomorrow

they would be out sailing to other worlds as they had always dreamed.

"Is there something wrong Kairi?" the boy had asked her, causing her to stop in her tracks and

turn back to face him.

"I am fine, why?" the girl asked, her eyes searching deep into his won.

"Oh its nothing" Sora said in embarrassment, rubbing the back of his sun burned neck.

"Can we sit for a second?" Kairi asked suddenly, flustering the boy.

"Ya...ya....sure, of course" the boy stuttered, wondering why he was acting like he was?, had he

fallen ill? Why was he suddenly acting so strange around the girl?

"Thanks" the girl said, slipping off the shoes she wore in order to allow her feet to soak in the

cool tide.

"I wonder where Riku went" Sora said, breaking the awkward silence between them.

"He left earlier when you were busy in the cave, he said he some stuff to do at home before

tomorrow's voyage came" the girl answered, her eyes focused intently upon the sparkling Ocean.

"Oh, I was wondering --" Sora began, until the girl interrupted with words of her own.

"Riku has been acting different. He has changed a lot since the day I first met him here on

the Islands" the girl said sadly, bringing Sora to look over at her with shock on his face.

What had come over the girl? Why was she suddenly sad about Riku changing? Everyone

changed at some point in their life, didn't they?

"What do you mean....changed?" Sora asked the girl curiously.

"Well...." the girl began, pausing to think a moment.

"Are you sure you are okay, Kairi? You are acting very strange all of a sudden" the boy asked,

hoping the girl didn't take his words as cause to be insulted.

"Sora, lets just take the raft and go, it can be just the two of us!" the girl said with a sudden burst

of excitement.

"Huh?" Sora said, even more confused than ever.

"Just kidding" the girl said with her usual giggle, she then kicked some water at the boy with a

laugh.

"Hey, what's gotten into you Kairi?" the boy said with a laugh, shaking droplets of water from

his sopping hair.

"Sorry" the girl said, a smile still lighting her face.

"You are the one who changed Kairi" Sora said as a joke, but the girl seemed to take the

statement with seriousness.

"Maybe....you know I was a little afraid at first, but now I am ready. Because no matter where I

go or what I see, I know I can always come back here. Right?" the girl asked, turning toward

Sora with shining eyes.

"Yeah, of course!" Sora answered, enjoying the smile he brought to the girl's face.

"That's good" the girl said, she then turned back to look at the setting sun and the sparkling waters.

"Don't ever change, Sora" the girl said softly, she then pulled her feet from the water and stood

on the dock.

"Huh, Kairi?" Sora said, looking at the girl in the twilight glow.

"I just can't wait. Once we set sail, it'll be great" Kairi said with a smile, she then entered her

boat alongside Sora and together they had rowed back home.

Sora looked back on the memory and thought of the strange way Kairi had acted, could it be

possible that she had a liking for him? Or was it Riku she liked?

Sora looked up at the ship hanging from his ceiling and Kairi's words came back to him.

"_I just can't wait. Once we set sail. It'll be great" _the words of Kairi spoke hauntingly in his

head.

Suddenly Sora heard a low rumbling, he then glanced out his window and saw dark clouds out on

the waters, alongside the illuminating flashes of lighting.

"A storm? Wait, the raft!" Sora said with a sudden dawning, what if one of the lightning bolts hit

their ship, then there plan's would be ruined.

Sora quickly slipped on his sneakers and climbed out his bedroom window, praying that he

arrived in time to save their vessel from the might of the storm.


	12. The Shadow Invasion

Sora arrived at the dock and he quickly jumped out of his boat, tying it up

so that the restless tide wouldn't carry it away to see while he dealt with the raft. As the boy

finished doing this he noticed two other boats also moored to the dock.

"Riku? Kairi?" the boy whispered, realizing the two boats could only belong to his friends, but

what were they doing here?

Sora then happened to look up and notice the dark orb with its center pulsing with a energy

hovering above the Island.

"What is that thing?" the boy whispered to himself, suddenly strange creatures began springing

up from the wooden boards of the dock, creatures that appeared to be made from shadow with

glowing yellow orb like eyes.

"No, the creatures from the dream?!" Sora cried out in disbelief, but the boy did not have time to

ponder the strange appearance of the dream monsters. One of the creature's sprang at him and the

boy barely managed to smack the beast away with the crude wooden blade he carried with him.

"I don't have time for this, the raft" Sora reminded himself, rushing through the throng of

creatures and defending himself best he could with the wooden blade.

Sora made his way to the door that led onto the other side of the Island that housed the raft, but he

found the entrance barred against any entry.

"Come on, let me in!" demanded the boy in frustration, but the door remained locked.

The boy then heard the shadows crawling up behind him and knew that he could not leave his

back exposed to attack.

"Bring it on!" the boy shouted, deja vu of the strange dream sequence coming back to his mind.

"Only thing missing is that weird voice in my thoughts" the boy whispered to himself, suddenly

Sora sighted a familiar figure upon the Island linked bridge.

"Riku!" Sora shouted, but the older boy seemed to have his back turned toward the events

happening just behind him only feet away.

"Get away!" Sora shouted in anger, knocking away a few of the shadow creatures as he rushed

into the waves and swam toward the small Island, a glance back relieving him to see that the

creatures remained on the beach, mot daring to enter the waters.

Sora finally reached the Island and he using a ladder he managed to climb up to meet the other

boy, who stood like a marble statue, ignoring the winds and rains that whipped his pale thin body.

"Riku, where is Kairi. You both need to get out of here, the shadows will destroy you both if you

don't!" Sora warned the boy, but the boy ignored the other's haste.

"The door is open..." Riku said with simplicity.

"What?!" Sora said, not understanding what the boy was talking about.

"The door is open, Sora! Now we can go to the outside world!" the boy said with excitement,

now turned to face his friend with a madness in the smile he wore and the glint that lit his eyes

against the darkened skies.

"What are you talking about? Did you not here me? I said we got to find Kairi!" Sora shouted

at the boy, but Riku only shook his head.

"Do not worry, Kairi is coming with us" Riku said calmly and cooly.

Sora then realized that Kairi had been right about Riku, he had changed after all! The boy was

now obsessed with leaving the Island so much, that he no longer regarded anything else...even the

safety of his closest friends.

"Once we step through, Sora. We may never return to these islands. We may never see our parents

again, but there is no turning back now" the boy began with sadness, but the sadness soon evaporated with the smug grin that came over the face of Riku.

"Can't you guys see that this is our only chance of escape from this prison. Destiny has opened its

path for us and we must accept her. We cannot let fear stop us now, Sora!" Riku continued to

ramble.

"Riku?" Sora said with confusion and fear, what had come over his childhood friend?

"I am not afraid of the darkness!" Riku shouted, and as he did Sora noticed the clinging well of

shadows that had sprung beneath Riku's feet.

"Riku!" Sora cried in warning, running to help the boy escape the grip of the shadow's, but he

then found himself entangled by it. Meanwhile Riku reached out his hand to Sora, a calm

smile plastered to his face.

Sora tried to reach out for the boy's hand, but the shadows held him back and slowly began to fill

his vision as they swallowed him just like in his dreams.

Everything then went dark before Sora's eyes. Both Riku and the shadows had dissapeared.

_You are the one who will open the door_ the voice muttered, returning to his thoughts as a light

suddenly shined forth and dispelled of the darkness that surrounded him.

Sora felt his vision return as his eyes found himself back on the small Island, only now he held a

strange object in his hands.

As Sora brought the object close he realized it to be a large key that he held gripped in his

hands like the blade from his dreams.

Around him Sora could here voices like that which helped to guide him shout:

_Keyblade!_ In unison in his thoughts.

"Keyblade" the boy mused, feeling a strange power come from the strange weapon he now held.


	13. The Doorway

Sora cut through the ranks of the shadow beast easily with the mysterious Keyblade he now held. The boy no longer felt powerful with the weapon in

his hands, he felt as if he could do anything as long as he gripped the Keyblade. Although the weapon was giving him power behind each swing, a aprt of it also came from

the anger and hatred he felt toward the creatures who had taken his friend Riku from him.

"I may have been unable to stop you from taking swallowing Riku, but with this Keyblade I will not let you take anymore of the people I care for!" Sora began to growl beneath

his breath, before shouting alongside the release of energy he used to eliminate three of the creatures with a single swing.

Sora then realized that the creatures would just keep coming, it was only a matter of time before he ran out of strength and the creatures overwhelmed him, Keyblade or not.

"I got to find Kairi and we have to get out of here" Sora reminded himself with a whisper, deflecting away an attack by one of the creatures. The boy then ran as fast as his legs

would take him, meaving the shadows wallowing in the sand behind him.

Sora suddenly stopped in his tracks as he took in the familiar sight before him, a doorway that the boy had last seen in his dreams.

"The doorway" Sora said in wonder, approaching the huge entryway that stood just before the secret entrance to the Island cavern.

A slither than resounded behind the boy and he did not have to turn to know that the shadows lurked just a few feet away.

"Please don't be locked" Sora prayed to himself, trying the door handle and relieved when the door swung open to admit him. As the boy entered the narrow tunnel that wound its way

toward the cavern he heard the heavy door slam shut behind him.

"Please be in here Kairi" Sora said with deep worry for the girl, the boy then set off down the tunnel.

The boy felt like he navigated his way through the dark tunnel for hours before finally arriving in the main cavern, and to his relief he found Kairi. However the girl was not alone, behind

her stood a figure dressed in a sweeping brown cloak.

"You!" Sora cried, anger welling up in his heart at the sight of the familiar being.

"Hmm, and here I thought the other one was to be the Keyblade's chosen" the robed creature said in his droning voice, meanwhile Kairi had turned to face Sora with a hollow

haunting look upon her face.

"What have you done to Kairi?!" Sora shouted at the figure, rushing to embrace the girl. However the figure raise up one of his sleeved hands and managed to summon

forth shadows to suspend the boy's further movement.

"It is not quite time Keyblade warrior, but rest assured you and the girl shall reunite soon enough" the brown garbed figure said with what Sora pictured to be a sneer beneath the dark

hood.

"Kairi!" Sora cried otu to the girl, but she remained oblivious as if she were dreaming or sleepwalking.

"Come child" the figure ordered, steering the girl toward the door that lay just behind them.

"You are not taking her anywhere, I will not let you!" Sora shouted, but the figure ignored the boy's threats and continued to steer the girl toward the mysterious doorway.

The door then burst open and released a strong gust of wind that tore at everything in the cavern, and as Sora braced himself against the strong winds he watched

as the cloak of the figure blew back to reveal what lay beneath: a sight that made Sora's blood run cold.

"What are you?" Sora whispered in horror, unable to take his eyes away from the sight, but before the figure answered Sora felt the darkness release its grip upon him, and felt

as he was blown back down the tunnel. The boy's last sight was the figure and Kairi stepping through the door and into the beyond.


	14. The Darkside's Return

Sora awoke slowly, feeling as though his entire body had been beaten with a hammer. The boy then began to recall memories of Kairi, the door, and the

figure in the brown robes. Sora then remembered the figure leading the girl through the door and the gust of wind that had emerged from the entryway,

sending the boy back down the tunnel.

"Kairi, I got to --" the boy began telling himself as he arose from the sand, but the boy felt his words lost in mid translation as he took in the scene before his unbelieving eyes.

The boy stood upon a great floating chunk of the Island that sat suspended in the center of a whirlwind of sand and debris, below Sora could see only the distant blue of the sea.

"The Island!" Sora cried, reconizing the wreckage around him as the remains of the tree house.

Suddenly a large figure began to descend from the sparking dark orb that filled the sky above the floating chunk of rock. It was as the creature landed that Sora instantly reconized

it as the large shadow from his dream.

"You, your the one who did this to my Island!" Sora shouted at the creature, who only stared back at him with its glowing orb like eyes beneath the dark writhing tentacles of hair.

Then without another word Sora began to attack the creature in his hatred and frustration, depleting the darkness that made up the clawed hands of the towering beast.

As Sora attacked with the Keyblade he felt the creature actually lose a bit of its power, and as usual the greater shadow attacked the boy with his slamming fists and bursts of energy

from the hole that marked its heaving chest.

Then the creature surprised Sora with a new attack, this time it formed a dark orb (like that in the sky above the Island) in the palm of both claws. Sora immediatly was careful not to

come into contact with the strange orb, somehow knowing that the orb was dangerous enough to eliminate him with just a touch. The greater shadow then heaved up the orb and

allowed it to burst, raining down a deadly hail onto the boy, who took careful measure to avoid it.

Finally after what seemed an age of fighting the beast, the shadow seemed to submit to defeat. However instead of disappearing like the smaller of its kind, the creature instead

arose away from the Island carried upon stingin winds toward the orb above.

"Wait! whats happening?!" Sora cried as the winds began to lift him toward the orb as well. The boy made a grab for some bit of wreckage, but fell short and found himself rising

toward the dark orb above.

* * *

Upon the streets of a nearby world walked the wizard, Donald and the Captain of the royal guard, Goofy. Both had just arrived upon the world of Traverse Town as the King had ordered

in his letter and both planned to find this Leon the King had spoken of.

Suddenly Jiminy cried out from his place upon the top of the Captain's hat (both had changed moments before landing upon the world).

"Look at that!" the little creature said with awe, one finger pointing toward the clear star filled night above the little town.

"It looks like what the King spoke of in his letter, a star is going out" Goofy said with worry in his usually carefree voice.

The star the two were viewing then let out a final bright shining light before blinking out of existence.

"That is even more reason why we must hurry, come on" the duck ordered, rushing off down the cobbled streets of Traverse Town.

"I wonder where that key the King spoke of could be" Donald voiced his thought aloud to the Captain, beside them padded the King's royal mutt, Pluto. The dog seemed to

be intent on sniffing each bit of cobblestone upon the twisting streets.

"Perhaps that Leon fella knows, maybe that is why the King sent us to speak with him" Goofy suggested to his frustrated companion, but the duck only crossed his arms

and looked off with a stern expression as Pluto suddenly went rushing off into a garbage choked alley, barking up a storm as he went.

"Where is that dog going now, we don't have time for these shananigans!" the wizard said in a huff.

"Don't worry, ill get him for ya Donald" Goofy said, turning to follow the dog down the alley.

"Oh forget the dog you big palooka, we got to find Leon" Donald said, turning to face the Captain with one foot tapping away a taboo of impatience into the cobblestone.

"Come on, Pluto!" Goofy shouted to the mutt, before joining back up with his companion.

Meanwhile Pluto had found a boy lying with his back pressed against the cold brick of a building. The dog cautiously approached the boy, at first barking at him before it decided the

boy was no threat. The creature then licked the boy's face with its long red tongue, waking the boy from his troubled dreams.

"Not another dream, I just want to get back to my Island" the boy muttered sleepily, his eyes beginning to slowly fall close.

Pluto however punced against the boy to fully awake him, and it worked as the boy sat up fully with eyes wide.

"This isn't a dream!" Sora cried, gazing around the alley in a new light.

"Where am I?" the boy questioned to himself, standing up to get a better view of the surrounding area. Sora then turned to the dog and felt a smile come to his face.

"Do you know where we are, boy?" Sora asked the dog, who suddenly perked up its ears and took off down the alley with a round of barking.

"Hey, come back!" Sora cried, chasing after the dog, but he stopped in his tracks when he foudn himself in the plaza of the strange town.

"I can't believe it, I am on another world!" the boy said with a laugh, but he then felt a sudden longing.

"If only Riku and Kairi could be here to see this, I wonder if they might be here!" the boy said with a rekindling of hope. Sora then descended onto the streets of Traverse Town.


	15. Traverse Town

Sora walked through Traverse Town's central plaza, gazing around at the strange people and creatures that rushed around him with business of

their own.

"Excuse me!" a little voice squeaked below him, the boy then looked down to find himself staring down into the eyes of a tiny little creature with a short pudgy body complete with

tiny wings and a tiny red curl that extended friom the creature's head.

"Sorry" Sora managed to stutter, moving aside to allow the tiny little creature to pass.

"I cannot wait to tell Riku and --" Sora began to whisper to himself, when he suddenly recalled the disappearance of his two friends.

"I gotta ask around for them, if I made it here then they must have. Although Kairi.....no! Kairi must be here, Riku as well" the boy tried to reassure himself, but in the back of his mind he

had heavy doubts that he would fins his friends upon the strange new world.

"Hello, I am not from around here. Have you seen a girl with short red hair, and a boy with her, he has these light blue eyes and shoulder length blue hair?" Sora asked a passing

man, but the man only shook his head sadly and moved on.

Sora then noticed that everyone held the same expression of sadness frozen upon their features. As the boy asked more passing individuals they only gave him the

same sad shake of their head before moving off like ghosts through the crowd.

"Quite depressing, don't you agree?" a voice spoke suddenly behind the boy, causing him to jump a few feet in surprise.

"Oh am I sorry, I did not mean to frighten you" the voice continued, Sora then whirled around to face the speaker and found a short balding fellow dressed in a crisp

suit complete with a gold rimmed monocle that the mysterious man had tucked into one of the creases that lined his face.

"Uh, who are you?" Sora asked the man, who suddenly burst into a round of apology.

"Oh, how rude of me! I am Mayor Harn, but you may just call me by my first name, Fizwilliam" the Mayor said with the friendly grin of a regular Politician, offering one white gloved

hand toward the boy.

"Um, Sora. And what were you saying was depressing?" Sora said with a uncomfortable smile, shaking Fizwilliam's hand with awkwardness.

"Well met Sora, and I was talking about the lost souls who fall into this fair town. Their worlds lost to the darkness and the foul creatures whom serve it" the Mayor said with a sudden

unmistakable bitterness in his voice.

"So these people lost their world to the shadows too?" Sora said with the fires of hope burning once again within him.

"Indeed, but I believe you meant to say Heartless, for I have never heard of any shadows taking over the worlds" the Mayor answered with his blithe cheery voice returned.

"Shadows, Heartless. You can call them whatever you like Mr. Mayor --" Sora began quickly, but the Mayor promptly interupted.

"Please, call me Fizwilliam" the Mayor said with a wink.

"Fizwilliam..." the boy began awkwardly, to which the Mayor inclined his head politely "My home, my Island was swallowed by the creatures and my friends along with it. Could

they have arrived here too?, Didn't say that people who have lost their world to darkness arrive here?" Sora asked the man, but his heart sank as a frown came over the wise face

of the Mayor.

"Well, its possible. However the people who arrive here have traveled as refugees from their worlds. In other words they escaped doom at the hands of those awful Heartless"

the Mayor explained to the boy, whose eyes slowly fell downcast.

"So you are saying that my friends are probably dead, or Riku anyway. Kairi could be anywhere with that jerk in the robe" Sora said with bitterness, turning to leave.

"Now I never said that, its just.... many have lost friends and family that now dwell here in Traverse Town. I myself lost a daughter in my escape from a world that had been taken by the

Heartless, she was the only family I had left after my wife passed" the Mayor said, his eyes suddenly filling with tears.

"I am sorry. Those creatures the ones you call the Heartless, they seem to be capable only of taking everything dear to one's heart" Sora said with solacing words to the man, meanwhile

the Mayor had drawn a spotted hankerchief from his coatpocket and was using it to dab at his watering eyes.

"Its fine, its only the dreaded beasts I hold a hate toward. Anyhow I won't bother you anymore, but if I may I would suggest you go search the other districts, for there is a possibilty that

one of your friends landed there in Traverse" the Mayor said, gesturing up the stairs leading further off into town.

"Thanks, Fizwilliam. I hope you find your daughter" Sora said with gratitude toward the man, who returned the favor. The two then went speperate ways, both hoping to reunite with the

ones they loved.


	16. The Second District

Sora made his way toward one of the districts the Mayor had mentioned. The boy soon found the door marked by a peeling sign that read _District 2, _however the door

was shut off to both entry and exit by the thick boards that were nailed across its length.

"What are you doing?" Sora asked a heavy man who had finished nailing one of the boards into the heavy frame of the entryway.

"Why I am following the orders of Leon, and seeing to it that none of those foul demons make off with the hearts of the people who live here in the first district of Traverse" the

big man explained to the boy as he began to pack up his equipment.

"Wait, the Mayor --" Sora began, but the large man shook his round cherry red face furiously.

"I am sorry, but I don't have time for this nonsense. I know you are just another one of those kids who have been nagging for me and the other men to admit ya into

the other side of town, just because you feel you are brave enough and strong enough to take on a Heartless. Well, my answer is no, and don't you try to lie to me

boy and try saying that the Mayor has given you special permission" the fat man said with his thick arms crossed over his round chest, a frown marring his pudgy features.

"Its safe to admit the boy through, Jonas" a deep voice broke into the conversation, Sora then moved aside to admit forward a large blond haired giant dressed in a black waist coat that

sweeped the cobblestone at his feet. Sora felt the man's cold eyes stare at him as he passed the boy.

"But the Heartless --" the large man began to protest, but he quailed beneath the cold stare of the other.

"I said, it is safe to admit the boy through, Jonas" challenged the blue eyed giant, immediatly the large man Jonas began to stutter out apologies, all the time his face became

slicker with the sweat that seemed to erupt from his flesh like raging waters.

The giant then eyed Jonas he waddled away as fast as his short legs could take the rotund body he possessed.

"Good luck finding your friends, and be wary of the Heartless" the giant man said to the boy, before he himself turned to leave for the twisting streets of Traverse.

"Um...thanks?" Sora said, wondering what had just happened. Why had that man Jonas seemed so frightened of the giant? And why was this Leon cutting off entry into the other

surrounding districts, wasn't the Mayor supposed to make such decisions?

"Good questions, but for right now it is only important that I find Riku and Kairi" the boy whispered to himself as he prepared to pass through the second district of Traverse Town.

_Wait didn't the door have boards just a moment ago?_ Sora realized as the door shut behind him with an ominous slam.

Sora then got his first glimpse of Traverse Town's second district and he found himself staring at a row of tiny shops that sported clothes, hats, shoes, most anything the boy could think

of.

"Hmm, looks peaceful to me" Sora whispered under his breath as he descended into a tiny square that held an extravagent fountain.

"I thought I heard Jonas say --" the boy began when he heard a scream from one of the balconies above. Then before he realized what he was doing, he found himself rushing to

the aid of the person in distress.

Sora was greeted with a gruesome sight, the person turned out to be a young woman whose fallen form was surrounded by the dreaded shadow creatures, Sora knew all too well.

"The creatures from the Island!" Sora shouted, but the creatures ignored the boy completely and were instead focused upon the glowing golden heart that arose from the woman's

heaving chest. The golden heart then took on a dark aura and soon transformed into a vile clanking creature that wore armor upon its jittering limbs.

The Heartless seemed to be in ectasy as another joined their growing ranks, meanwhile Sora found himself frightened beyond compare.

_Is this what happens when the Heartless take over worlds, they steal hearts and turn people into creatures like themself?! _Sora thoughts screamed in his head, then to his horror the

Heartless focused their attention onto him and the Keyblade which had suddenly appeared in his hands.

"Stay back!" Sora warned, swinging the massive key at one of the Heartless who came within striking distance, upon closer inspection that the boy noticed the heart shaped symbol upon

its chest.

_What is wrong with me?, I could defeat them before with no problem!_ Sora paniced in his head, one of the Heartless then slithered up behind him unexpectidly. Sora did not have

enough time to turn and face the creature, but he was saved by a strange ally just in the nick of time.

The person responsible for eliminating the Heartless before it could strike him wore a dark coat that was dissimilare to that worn by the blond haired giant from earlier, instead this

jacket appeared as a piece of darkness that had managed to detach itself to cling onto the limber figure before him.

Sora noticed that he or she wielded a large blade that was almost like the Keyblade he gripped in his hands, only this weapon seemed deadlier somehow held by the mysterious figure,

whom hid their true identity behind a dark hood.

"Fight, Keyblade warrior!" ordered the figure, their voice slightly muffled beneath the hood and cloak they wore. Sora the felt the power of the Keyblade fill him as he sprang into action

and cut down the Heartless one by one.

Sora risked a quick glance over and saw the figure cutting through the Heartless at an even faster pace than he. Suddenly more of the creatures sprang up, many of them donning the

strange armor as the Heartless the woman's heart had transformed into.

"There are too many, they just keep springing up!" Sora cried out to the figure as he deflected a quick jab by one of the armor trendy Heartless.

"You are right, go back to the first district" the figure ordered yet again, cutting through another three Heartless with their blade.

"But my friends, they might --" Sora began to protest to the figure, but they only turned their hidden face his way and shouted for him to leave yet again.

A swarm of mini Heartless dressed in red and blue robes then appeared and began to unleash elemental magics onto the boy and his ally (or at least he or she appeared to be his

ally).

"Did you here me?, go!" the figure shouted, deflecting a fireball back at one of the Heartless. Sora then took the advice of the figure and with a final glance back he rushed back into the

calmness and sad tranquility of the first district.

However what Sora found instead frightened him, for the entire scene lay in destruction with benches and street lamps smashed upon the street. Sora noted a large dark heart

boldened by red and containing a thorn laden x in its center, the horrible symbol had appeared upon a broken shop that had its windows shattered and its door caved inward by the

battery of none other than Heartless.

"What happened, how did the Heartless get in here?" Sora wondered aoud, suddenly a cool voice spoke at the boy's side.

"They come out at you from nowhere, I was foolish to believe that mere doors can keep them back any longer. Not when there most hated enemy was so near" the voice said, belonging

to a tall man dressed in a short black jacket that he had worn over a white shirt above a pair of snug black jeans.

The man's face however was what interested the boy, for it was sharp and angular with cold blue eyes and framed by tousled brown hair that reached a bit below the man's sloping

shoulders.

"It is clear what they were here for, not for hearts but for something you hold as we stand here speaking in riddles" the man said, flipping some of his long hair back to reveal a

thin scar that ran just up to the bridge of his nose.

"What are you --?" the boy began, when suddenly the man began to approach him, his boots beating out a steady rythm upon the cobblestone.

"Hey, stay back!" Sora warned, the Keyblade appearing in his hands as he prepared to face off against the man.

"So that is what it looks like. I wonder though why it would choose a simple minded little punk like you?" the man asked himself, Sora then felt his temper begin flaring up.

Just who did this guy think he was?

"Hand it over kid, fun times over. Its time some one put that weapon to proper use" the man demanded, trying to swipe the Keyblade out of Sora's hands, but the boy jumped back

swiftly.

"I don't think so" Sora said, sensing the man's annoyance.

"So its a fight you want then? very well than, lets have it your way" the man said calmly as a large blade that almost bore resemblance to a gun appeared in his gloved grip.

As the man took a stance the gun let out an audible click that sounded like loaded ammunition.

_What have I gotten myself into with this thing?! _Sora thought grimly, looking down at the Keyblade in his hands.


	17. Leon

Sora swung his Keyblade at the strange man, but his every attack was deflected with the simplest of ease. After another of the Keyblade's swings were deflected,

the man seemed to feel that he was done dueling with the boy and he began to press the boy with powerful swings of the mighty sword he wielded.

Sora managed to avoid a few of the wide swings the man directed at him, suddenly the man performed an overhead swing that Sora barely managed to block the incoming blow

with the edge of the Keyblade. Sora felt his strength quailing beneath the powerful muscle behind the large blade.

"Stop this foolishness, I don't want to harm you" the man said with a bored sigh, but this only made Sora angry.

"Your the one who should give up, for there is no way I am going to give the Keyblade over to you" Sora growled at the man under his breath, the boy then knocked the blade away

and did a quick backroll to escape the man's next swing.

Sora got back to his feet with a grin, but his grin quickly evaporated when the man fired a ball of roiling flame from the tip of his blade. The boy ducked behind a sign that

still stood amongst the wreckage of the first district. Unfortunately the sign stood no chance against the raging orb of flame, which ate through the sign in a matter of seconds, leaving

only a pool of melting metal in its wake.

"Missed!" Sora teased, stepping out from behind his ruined piece of cover.

"Look out!" the man cried, his eyes widening, but Sora only laughed.

"Do you really think I am...hmm?" Sora began, when suddenly he heard a screeching coming from behind him. The boy then turned to face the sign tipping in his direction.

Sora found himself unable to run, his legs felt as though they had frozen over, preventing him from moving out of the way of the falling sign.

The man ran forward and grabbed Sora about the waist, pulling him to safety just as the sign collapsed with a tremondous crash that shook a few loose tiles from a nearby rooftop.

Sora opened his eyes slowly, for he had clenched them shut in what had looked to be his moment of death. The boy found he was lying upon the ruined cobblestone street, the man

stood over him with a stern look upon his face.

"Stupid and reckless, what a keyblade warrior you make" the man said with sarcasm lining his words. Then before Sora could retort the world went black.

The man had smacked the boy with the butt of his blade, not enough to hurt him, but enough to knock him out for a time.

"Wasn't that just a bit too much, Leon?" a soft voice spoke just behind the man, who turned around to face a girl with short black hair and dark brown eyes.

"We don't have time for jokes ,Yuffie. Things are looking worse than we thought, a lot worse"Leon said, glancing down at a passed out Sora, the Keyblade still gripped in his right hand at

his side.

"Is that the --?" Yuffie began to ask the man, kneeling beside the spread out figure and closely examining the Keyblade he gripped.

"Indeed" Leon answered before she even finished asking her question.

"But he is only a kid, he can't really be....what is this some kind of joke!" Yuffie said with a sudden burst of anger, rising to face the other man with a look of fury.

"My thoughts exactly, but he is the one. The blade and the Heartless that seek his heart are proof of that" Leon said, gesturing to the Keyblade and the wreckage around them.

"So, what now?" Yuffie asked, her voice becoming cold and calm.

"We take him back to the hotel, he will be safer there. The Heartless are seeking him and unless we do something he will lose his heart to them, and at all costs we cannot

allow such a thing to transpire" Leon replied, bending over to pick up the boy whom he then draped across his back without a single groan.

"This has go to be a joke, this kid can't really be the galaxies only defense against the tide of Heartless" Yuffie complained just behind him, bringing a small smile of amuesment to the

man's face.

"The kid has something going for him, he isn't all bad" Leon said, glancing back at at the girl, who only crossed her arms and glared to the side of her.

"I hope the King was right about you, kid" Leon whispered, glancing at the boy's blank face.

* * *

Riku slowly awoke, his head pounding with an almost unbearable headache. The boy then slowly got to his feet and took in his surroundings. Riku found that

he was standing in ankle deep water that ran up to walls of rushing water.

"Wow" Riku said with awe, passing a hand through the strange aqua walls. The boy's gaze then turned toward an enormous castle that stood in the distance.

"Wait, this must be another world. That means we made it, Sora and Kairi, we made it!" the boy said with excitement, but when he turned around in mid cheer he found no sign of his

friends.

"Sora....Kairi?" Riku said quietly, remembering his last encounter with Sora upon the small Island beside the children's tree fort.

"Hello Riku, we have been expecting you" a soft voice spoke just behind the boy, who whipped around to face the mysterious speaker.

"Who..who are you?" Riku asked the strange figure who stood where just moments ago there had been nothing.

"Someone who can help you to unite once again with the ones you hold so dear" the figure replied, and with a wave they produced images of the two children before the

unbelieving eyes of the Islander.

"How did you --?" the boy began, but the figure silenced them with a wave of their finely manicured hand.

"Shall we save the questions for some where a bit more ...how should I say it, private" the figure said with a dark smile and a nod to the castle that stood looming just upon the horizon.

"I guess, but my friends --?" the boy began to question, but again the figure silenced him.

"All shall be revealed in good time, Riku" the figure said, and without another word they opened a flaming portal with just a wave of their hand.

Riku did not know if he trusted the mysterious figure, but they seemed his only chance of finding his friends now that he was on the strange new world.

"Wait for me" Riku said with a grin, bringing the figure to smile as well as both departed through the flaming portal.


	18. At the Hotel

Donald and Goofy, with Jiminy deep in his pocket walked beside the waterway that drained into the town's sewer system. The two had walked up and down town for hours and

still they had found no sign of any Leon. That wasn't all however, the duo had seen few people out and about in the other districts that surrounded Traverse, however one fellow

a thin nervous man, frequent to glancing about either side of himself as he made his way up and down the cobblestone roadways, had been kind enough to stop and give them directions

earlier that day.

"He and his pals usually hang around the waterway just behind the hotel in the second district, you will surely find them there. However you best look out for Heartless" the man had

informed them in a quick tongue, then he had disappeared before they could thank him. Now that they were at the waterway they found no sign of anyone, not even a stray animal.

"Nobody around, its kinda spooky. Don't ya think?" Goofy said with a terrified gulp.

"Oh, please. Everyone has just gone off to sleep, it must be after midnight here" the duck tried to reason, but suddenly a crash emerged from a nearby alley, causing both of the travelers

to freeze in their tracks and turn to look for the source of the commotion.

"Hey, come out whomever is back there!" ordered the wizard, but he was met with a cold silence.

"I am scared, Donald" Goofy whispered to the duck with another signature gulp.

"Oh, stop it. You are the Captain of the royal guard for the King's sake, now stop acting like a big chicken" Donald said to his companion sternly, a moment later a hand softly tapped

the duck upon his right shoulder, causing him to jump a few feet in fright and land in the arms of the terrified Captain.

"Its a Heartless, whatever that is!" the duck quacked in fear, but he two then realized it was only a young girl as she emerged into the light of a nearby street lamp.

"I am sorry to frighten you. Its just I thought you were sent by the King" the girl said in a soft voice, her long braid swaying in the night breeze that drifted by them.

Both the wizard and the Captain then glanced at eachother with equal expressions of surprise.

* * *

"Come on, lazy bum. Wake up" Sora heard Kairi say to him with a tinkling laugh.

Sora slowly felt his eyes drift open as he took in the small green room and the girl with short red hair standing over him a, Kairi!

"Kairi, you are alive. How did you escape that freak in the robe, what did he do to you? I swear if he --" Sora said with tears of joy blurring his eyes as happiness filled him at seeing

his best friend once again, but his words were cut by an unfamiliar voice.

"Kairi? I am the great ninja Yuffie" Kairi said with an air of dignity, suddenly Kairi's image disappeared and a girl with short black hair and deep brown eyes filled his vision.

"Um, Squall. I think you may have hit him a little too hard that last time" Yuffie said, turning to gaze at Leon, whom leaned against the frame of the room's tiny door marked with a fading

number two.

"Its Leon, and the kid wasn't hit that hard. He is probably just stupid like that" Leon said with a sigh. However the boy was now far from feeling calm and relaxed as he had upon

seeing Kairi, or who he thought was Kairi.

"You! your the the one who tried to take the Keyblade from me" Sora said angrily to the man, pointing an accusing finger his way.

"And the one who saved your life twice" Leon said with a bored look Sora's way.

"What are you --?" Sora began to ask with confusion, but Yuffie answered before he finished.

"Well Leon saved you from being crushed by that sign, and then he took that Keyblade the Heartless had been using to track you" Yuffie said as if the answers were clear as water.

"Wait, my Keyblade!" Sora cried, feeling around for the blade, but finding it nowhere in sight. The boy then turned his rage upon Leon.

"What did you do with it, thief!" Sora demanded, but the man was not intimidated.

"Relax squirt. Its right here" Leon said without a glance toward the boy, and then to Sora's surprise he found the man weilding it in one hand.

"How can you --?" Sora began to ask, but leon held up a hand for his silence.

"Don't worry, though I can take the blade, I can't actually use it. Only the chosen one is capable of that, but I still can't believe it chose a kid" Leon said, and suddenly the

blade appeared back in Sora's hands.

"So wait, you were not trying to steal the Keyblade after all?" Sora asked, still confused by the entire situation.

"Indeed, were you not listening back in the first district of town. As long as you continued to weild that Keyblade, the Heartless would continue to follow until sooner or later

one of them managed to defeat you and steal your heart" Leon explained with a slight bit of annoyance in his words.

"I still don't understand whats going on here" the boy said, resulting in both Leon and Yuffie releasing a simutaneous groan.

* * *

"Ok so you both know there are many other worlds out there besides your castle and this town, right?" the girl, whom had introduced herself as Aerith. The girl now sat with the

two adventures in an Imperial China styled room.

"Of course" Donald replied, his foot tapping with impatience.

"But they are supposed to be a secret" Goofy added, covering his mouth with both hands.

"They have been a secret for a long time because they have never been connected until now" Aerith continued, a sad expression then fell over the young girl'd face.

"But all of that changed when the Heartless came" the girl concluded, causing both the wizard and the Captain to draw looks.

"Heartless, a man we met earlier mentioned such a creature. What is it?" the wizard asked, interest suddenly dawning in his eyes.

* * *

"Heartless, the Mayor said that was what the Mayor had called those strange shadow creatures" Sora had said dwelling in his memory of the helpful politician.

"They are creatures without hearts who can come only from the darkness that lies deep in a person's heart. You mentioned the Mayor told you this?" Leon questioned, as

if he could not understand the words of the boy.

"Yeah, I hope the poor guy escaped those Heartless that tore through the first district, for he was the one who directed me to the second district" Sora explained to the man.

"Impossible" Leon said, causing Sora to become angry.

"What are you talking about? I saw the Ma --" Sora began, but Yuffie answered for the man.

"Um, Sora. The Mayor disappeared from Traverse Town just after me, Leon, and Aerith arrived, he told us he was traveling to get answeres behind the disappearing worlds and

a possible solution to stopping it. Leon then took up the duty to protect this town against the Heartless that began to turn up after the Mayor's absense" Yuffie explained to the boy,

who suddenly had a pale expression of fear cross his face.

"So your saying that who I met on my arrival was --?" Sora began to question, before Leon interupted.

"Not the Mayor, that's correct. If it was the Mayor I would have been the first to know of his return, he also would have taken back control of the town" Leon further explained to an

utterly cnfused Sora.

"So if that was not the Mayor, then who was it?" Sora mused, but the two could only offer the boy shrugs to show they had no clue to the imposter's true identity.

"Hey Sora, have you ever heard of a man named Ansem?" Yuffie suddenly asked in the silence that followed.

* * *

"Ansem?" Goofy said slowly, searching his memory for the story behind the name.

"He was a scientist who studied the Heartless. Your King was close friends with the man as a matter of fact" Aerith began to tell the two adventure's.

"Thats strange, the King never mentioned any Ansem" Donald said, but the girl could not offer any explanation to the sudden realization of the duck.

"Anyhow, Ansem would record all of his research into a very detailed report" Aerith continued, Goofy then held out a hand to the girl.

"Um, can we see this report?" Goofy asked, but the girl shook her sadly to them.

"I am afraid the report was lost long after....." the girl began, but suddenly she froze in mid sentence.

"After what?" Donald asked, but the girl shook her head.

"Nothing. What I meant to say was that the report was scattered after Ansem's disappearance, it could be on any of the worlds and in anyones hands now" Aerith explained, a thought

suddenly dawned upon Goofy.

"Maybe thats what the King set out to find, these reports by that Ansem fella" Goofy said, Donald gave a nod of agreement at his side.

"Those were my thoughts exactly, along with Leon's and Yuffie's as well" the girl said, both adventurere's then turned back to face the girl.

"Leon, you know him. Please you must take us to him" Donald said, grabbing the girl's hand and lrading her toward the room's entryway.

"I am afraid Leon left to deal with an attack by Heartless in the first district, but when he comes back I am sure he would be happy to speak with represenatives of the King" Aerith said,

Donald and Goofy then felt their sudden burst of excitement leave them as they learned that their mysterious allie had escaped them a second time that day.

"You don't understand Aerith, we need to speak with Leon urgently. He is the only one who can lead us to the Key the King ordered us to retrieve" Donald explained to the girl, his eyes

suddenly filled with a spark.

"Your King must be talking about the Keyblade" the girl said with a slight smile.

* * *

"So this is the Keyblade" Sora said, examining the weapon under the rooms light.

"Indeed, as I have said the Heartless fear the Keyblade, and thats why they won't end their assualt until they have feasted upon the powerful heart that is said to belong to the one

who weilds it" Leon said, the man then turned away from the boy.

"But I didn't ask to weild it" Sora whined, Yuffie gave a small laugh beside him.

"Only the Keyblade decides its master, otherwise their could be major problems" Yuffie told the boy, her brown eyes flashing.

"So who was the Kairi you were speaking about in your sleep, your girlfriend or something" Leon asked out of the blue, bringing the boy to nearly fall over.

"My girlfriend! Kairi is not my girlfriend" Sora practically shouted at the man, his face the color of a tomateo.

"Then who is she?" Yuffie asked, her curiosity clear.

"She was my friend back on the Island I came from, but her and my friend Riku disappeared. I have to find them" Sora explained, concluding his words with obvious

determination.

A knock then sounded at the door to the green room, Leon quickly walked over with his large sword at the ready.

"Yuffie" Leon said, looking back at the girl through his curtain of dark hair.

"Understood" the girl said with a nod to the darkly dressed man, a pair of deadly ninja stars appearing in her pale dainty hands.

Leon then turned back to the door "Password?" the man asked coldly.

"Radiant Gardens" a gruff voice replied from the otherside of the wood.

Then without further inquiry, Leon swung the door open to admit a rough looking man with sandy blond hair that was dressed in a white shirt and jeans complete with goggles set upon

his head.

"I found it Leon, the big Heartless that tore through town and I hate to break it to you but the thing is coming this way and he has a few friends with him" the man spoke over a toothpick

he held between his teeth.


	19. Attack of the Swarm

"Are you sure, Cid?" Leon questioned the man, who nodded his head vigorously.

"Ya I am positive about it. I reconized the big one as the beast who ripped open my damn shop. The foul thing almost got me, but I always have a bit of protection around as you know

already, Leon" Cid said with a smug grin, the man then pulled a large handled object out of his back pocket.

"That big dummy didn't know what hit him when this baby gave him a good smack in the face" Cid continued with a good natured laugh, but Leon had not time for jokes.

"Ok, enough storytelling Cid, We have got to --" Leon began reprimanding the man, when suddenly a window leading onto the room's balcony just behind them shattered.

Glass shards sprayed everywhere as a creature familiar to the boy entered into the room, its armor clanking as it stepped through the broken window.

"Heartless" Sora cried, bringing his Keyblade to bear as he went into a fighting stance.

"Yuffie, make sure Aerith gets out safe. Cid --" Leon ordered, turning to the man, however Cid was already out the door a few steps behind Yuffie.

"I know, you and the kid just be careful" Cid called back to them, Leon then took his place beside Sora.

"You ready, kid?" Leon asked, glancing over at the kid, who nodded his head.

"Then lets do this, I lost one home and their is no way I will lose another" Leon shouted, throwing himself against the tide of Heartless who had begun to pour into the room like

a torrent of dark water.

* * *

Donald and Goofy were startled when the room's door burst open to admit two figures, one a dark haired girl and the other an older man with sandy blond hair.

"Yuffie, Cid?" Aerith said, surprised to see the two in such a rush.

"Come on Aerith, we gotta move!" Yuffie said quickly to the girl, grabbing her by the arm and pulling her toward the room's exit out into the Hotel hall.

"Wait, the --"Aerith tried to tell the other girl, but the dark haired Yuffie shook her head.

"No time, come on!" Yuffie ordered, and then the three were gone.

Meanwhile Goofy picked himself up from where he had fallen behind the room's bed.

"Donald?" Goofy said, looking around the room for his companion. The room's door then swung back to reveal the duck pressed into the room's red wall, his bill open in mid shout.

* * *

Leon and Sora used their combined might to fight through the bulk of the Heartless that pured outward from the window of the small Hotel room. Sora felt relief only when he no longer

felt his Keyblade cutting through the creatures of darkness.

"I think thats all of them" Sora said with a sigh of relief, but Leon only shook his head.

"That was only the first wave, more will continue to come if we do not find and destroy the large one controling them all" Leon explained to the boy, who groaned in annoyance.

Suddenly the two heard a scream down by the waterway alley below, both rushed out onto the balcony which just moments before had been filled with Heartless.

The two looked around for the commotion and Sora soon spotted its source. The boy reconized the rotund figure of Jonas standing down by the waterway, his body completely still.

Sora then watched in horror as Jonas's heart drifted out of his body and transformed into another of the clanking armored Heartless. The newly created Heartless than took off down the

alley without a single glance back.

"Come on, the leader is probably the one calling them all away from this district, if we follow we might just be lead straight to the master himself" Leon told the boy, and then without a

further word, the man swung down from the balcony and landed in the alley below. Sora looked down at the man, who gazed up at him with an expression of haste.

"Come on aren't you coming?" Leon called up to the boy, who then let out a breath to calm himself just before throwing himself off the balcony to land beside the man in an awkward

tumble that sent him crashing into the waterway with a tremondous splash.

Leon could not hide the smile that played upon his face as the boy waded out of the waterway with his clothes soaked and his hair sopping wet.

"Better luck next time on the landing kid" the man said with a smile upon his lips, he then took off in the direction of the Heartless.

"Wait for me!" Sora called, shaking out his wet matted hair and chasing after the man.


	20. Truth

"Are you sure it is smart to be heading for the creature that wants to destroy us and consume our hearts?" Sora hissed under his breath, but Leon ignored the boy's words of warning.

"This creature has destroyed the districts of Traverse one by one, it is time someone dealt with it once and for all. Maybe its destruction will even bring peace to this town at last and

rid it of the Heartless that lurk its streets" Leon spoke back to the boy, both then halted as they came to a set of oak doors marked with a sign that read: _3rd District._

"So the master has made a home for itself in the third district, come on Keyblade warrior. Now is your chance to truly use that blade of yours" Leon spoke again, the man then kicked the

double doors open onto an empty plaza thats light came from a few street lamps and a glowing fountain of two dogs consuming a plate of spagetti.

"I don't see anything, are you sure that Heartless ran down here Leon?" Sora questioned the man, who wandered about with his large blade still drawn and at the ready.

"I am sure the foul thing entered this district" Leon reassured himself and the boy, when suddenly a bang echoed behind them. Both whirled about quickly and were in shock to see

the squat figure of Mayor Harn, and alongside him was the blond giant Sora reconized from his trip into the first district of Traverse

"Excellent, you followed my little friend just as I knew you would" the Mayor said with a triumphant smile upon his weathered face.

"So your the one Sora spoke of, the one masquerading about as the Mayor" Leon responded sharp and accusingly.

"So, Sora told you about me, or should I say the Keyblade warrior" Mayor Harn said, and as he spoke his form began to melt away with the steps he took toward the Keyblader and the

resister. Where there had been a kind withered old man now stood a hulking demon with shining yellow eyes that were slitted like a snakes, complete with fangs and horns that curled

in toward the face of the Heartless master.

"A Heartless Guardian, should have known only one of them could create such an elaborate plan to turn Traverse over to the darkness"Leon whispered under his breath, but the creature heard

him and perked up its head.

"Exactly why I had to disguise myself as your foolish leader, but fortunately my time resting within that wretched weak shell are through and now I can finish what I started" the

Guardian said with a sneer to the two warriors of light.

"And what exactly was that?" Sora shouted at the creature, who twisted its head to gaze at him with its cruel malice filled eyes.

"To find this worlds Keyhole of course, for that is the mission of all the Heartless, to find a world's Keyhole and fill it with our darkness. I was close to achieving such until your arrival

Keyblade warrior, for you must already know how as creatures of the darkness, the Heartless have come to fear your kind and the weapons you master. Therefor you could

only imagine the fear I felt when facing you, I knew I had to get rid of you and so I sent you into the second district under the guidance of my associate while my Heartless and I

searched the first district, but with no luck" the Guardian explained, spitting with each mention of the Keyblade and its master.

"So thats why you sent me into the second district" Sora cried out in sudden realization.

"Exactly, but my Heartless were defeated by you as its seems. Then I knew that I would have to deal with you myself before I could accomplish my task, and while I was at it destroy

the heart of the cursed resistance as well. As they say, better to kill two birds with one stone, and my stone can be quite useful as you may have seen the evidence in the first district,

the fools didn't stand a chance" the Heartless said with a wild laugh, behind him the blond giant sneered and clenched his meaty fists.

"May I destroy them then master?" the giant asked the Guardian, whose face twisted grotesquely with pleasure.

"Indeed, destroy them my pet, and leave no evidence of either. After we shall have no more oppostion in our hunt for that cursed Keyhole" the Guardian ordered, and the blond giant's

form then expanded as his limbs suddenly detached and simply floated around a central core that bore the Heartless mark, where his head had been now floated a spiked helmet.

"And so it begins" Leon cursed under his breath.


	21. Fated Alliance

Goofy and Donald raced through the maze up of streets that was Traverse Town, both of them filled with an air of excitement. It was actually thanks to Goofy for the most part, for

he had been the one to view the entire ideal that had stirred hope in the hearts of the two servants of the King.

"If you are right about what you claim to have seen Goofy, we may be done with this entire business before it has even begun" the wizard quacked as the two companions (with Jiminy

still in Goofy's pocket) rounded about the corner of one of Traverse's side streets and came to face a set of doors that marked the third district lying beyond them.

"I just hope we are not too late" Goofy added, but Donald shook his feathered head and adjusted the blue cap he wore.

"Too late, please Goofy. If this guy was as skilled as you said back at the Hotel than I am sure he can handle himself fine against one of the larger of those Heartless creatures"

Donald argued as he tried to pull open one of the third district's heavy wood doors, but the thing wouldn't budge for the wizard, whom let out a furious quack when the door refused to

open for him.

"Thats it" Donald seethed, drawing his wand and aiming at the set of doors. The duck then recited a spell that allowed a burst of fire to eject from the wand tip, but the flames

did not leave a burn upon the wood.

"Lets try another entrance in, Donald" Goofy suggested, the wizard agreed and the two ran off to try their luck getting into the district through another of its entrance's.

* * *

Leon furiously attacked the large Heartless with floating armored limbs, but his attacks only clanged off the creature as it continued to make its way toward the terrified Keyblade

warrior, who stood with his blue eyes wide.

"Come on Sora, help me att --" Leon began to shout breathlessly with a glance back to the boy, but his words were cut in mid sentence by the fist of the Heartless connecting with

his back and sending him flying through a window.

"Leon!" Sora cried, but the boy didn't get a chance to help his fallen friend. The Heartless swung one of its claws at the boy and nearly took his head, luckily the armored fist only grazed

him. The boy rolled back to avoid being crushed beneath the armored heel of the large creature as it took another step toward him.

* * *

Donald and Goofy had found another entrance into the district and after passing through it they found themselves upon a balcony overlooking the third district. Both

quickly caught site of the Keyblade warrior facing off against the giant Guard Armored Heartless.

"There he is Donald, the one with the key the king spoke of in the letters!" Goofy cried in excitement, jumping with joy as he did. In his pocket Jiminy felt ill as he was tossed about.

"Goofy relax or you will draw attention to," Donald began to warn his companion ,"Us" the duck concluded as the demonic Guardian Heartless appeared before the wizard with

a grin upon his terrible face.

The creature then approached the duck with a twisted grin upon its face,as the Heartless got closer Donald could see his own image refracted in its gleaming eyes. Behind him Goofy

had a similare problem involving two of the clanking armored Heartless, who twitched with each step toward the Captain.

"I thought I sensed two fools enter the third district, and it appears I judged my senses correctly" the Heartless master said with a sneer directed toward the wizard, who held up

his wand, ready to fight the approaching figure.

"This is it Goofy, fight for the King!" the wizard cried, racing forward in harmony with his companion, but both were quickly defeated and thrown from the balcony, ascending high toward

the twinkling stars above before they felt gravity take hold and pull them back toward the third district plaza below.

The two slowly opened their eyes to find the plaza spinning before their dazed faces, the two slowly refocused and found themself lying upon the groaning key weilder, who

held the Keyblade out before him as the two servants of the King sat upon him.

"The key!" both shouted in unison as they took in their first sight of the mysterious weapon that could hold the key to helping their master.

However the three soon found themself scrambling into defensive stances as the Guard Armor Heartless crashed just a few feet from them, his claws clenching as if anticipating its

crushing of their bodies in its large armored fists, meanwhile the Guardian Heartless appeared also at its side with a swarm of the clanking writhing Heartless behind him.

"We have orders to stick with you key weilder, therefor we will start by helping you to defeat these Heartless guys, right Donald?" Goofy spoke behind his shield to Sora, glanicng over

at the duck, whom looked ahead toward the coming battle fiercly.

"Right" Donald spoke quickly, and then without another word the three raced forward to combat the creatures of darkness.


	22. The Battle of the Third District

Goofy threw his shield like a discus and in the process destroyed many of the smaller Heartless, meanwhile Sora and Donald attacked the Guard Armor

Heartless with magic and Keyblade. The large Heartless would quickly rotate his gaunlet fists about him in a chance to strike the two, but they would backpedal to avoid being hit by the

attack.

In the midst of one of the manuevers Donald heard a clanking just behind him and he turned just as one of the smaller armored Heartless threw itself at him, the duck did not

even have a chance to raise its wand. However the creature was eliminated just as its claws were inches from stricking the duck, the cause of the creature's quick demise was a

metal throwing star that now stood imbedded in the floor of the third district.

Donald was wondering where the star had came from when another of the deadly blades flashed past him and destroyed another of the clanking Heartless, the duck's gaze then rose

and came to behold the figure of a young dark haired girl standing upon the roof of one of the buildings that overlooked the district.

Sora saw the girl as well and called up to her, Yuffie the ninja then turned her gaze from the figure of Aerith sprinting to the fallen Leon and looked down upon the boy with

a smile and a wave.

Sora was too focused on the girl to see the Guard Armor Heartless launch its pieces into the air, only to have them come crashing down toward the boy.

"Look out!" Goofy shouted in warning, rushing to the boy and simutaneously destroying Heartless with his shield held before him like a batting ram.

The titanic limbs of the Heartless were about to crush the boy until Goofy fell into position and deflected them with his shield, which expanded to protect both him and Sora.

The Captain felt the limbs of the creature strike against his shield with enough strength to buckle the creatures legs, yet he continued to hold the shield and repel the

Heartless.

Meanwhile, Donald saw the Heartless Guardian make his way stealthily toward Aerith, who kneeled by the side of the fallen Leon trying to revive him with a Hi Potion. The duck quacked

in fear for the girl and ran to her aid with his wand held high. Bursts of lighting struck the legion of Heartless destroying some and wakening others, but the Guardian still continued to

slither toward the girl with a horrific grin upon his face.

The duck tried to block the creature's advancement, but the Guardian eaily knocked him aside and reached his claws toward the terrified girl. It was then that Leon's eyes shot open, and

without a word the man jumped into action with his gunblade at the ready. The Guardian deflected the man's blows with the blade with nothing but its claws, which left deep gouges in

the metal of the blade.

Donald however was not finished with the Guardian and he summoned up all the power in his wand and directed it at the Guardian, whom turned to face the duck just as the magnificent

burst of magic released itself, slamming into the dark creature with enough force to obliberate part of its body and face.

In the same moment Sora jumped out from behind the defensive shield of Goofy and destroyed the armored limbs of the Heartless, which lay strewn like garbage about the district.

Soon only the creature's torso and head remained, but it still proved itself formidable as it spun about like a top, destroying anything that got close, including other Heartless.

Donald did not fear the creature however and with his wand raised he shouted out a spell to freeze the Heartless in mid spin. While the creature sat frozen by time, Sora went in with his

Keyblade and delivered the finishing blows to the Guard Armor.

With the final swing of the Keyblade the creature began to shake as its torso began to form deep cracks that glowed with the golden heart released by the Heartless in its destruction,

the creature armor then burst apart with pieces clanging everywhere, and through the smoke and destruction a golden heart was seen by the heroes drifting into the star filled sky

before it disappeared.


	23. Departures

"So you guys were searching for me?" Sora asked the wizard and royal Captain in surprise and clear disbelief. The three sat with Leon and the others back in the Hotel in the second

district, their battle with the Heartless behind them and Traverse safe for a time.

The two nodded their heads enthusiasticly, from where he leaned against the doorframe Leon spoke up for the first time since the battle, his arm now supported in a makeshift splint.

"They, too, have been seeking the weilder of the Keyblade. Order's of their King" the man spoke softly, his eytes staring at the through his long low hanging bangs.

"It is true, the King sent us to find the weilder of the Key, and far as I can see that can only be you Sora" Goofy said with a chuckle, Donald nodded his head in agreement.

"I got the letter from their King myself, how else do you think I knew about the Keyblade? Anyhow you and the Keyblade would be put to much better use with them than here in quiet

little Traverse Town" Leon said convincingly to the boy.

"I don't know, are you sure --" Sora began to argue, but Yuffie interupted him.

"We have things covered here Sora, the Heartless and their leader are gone thanks to all of our efforts and now Traverse will finally have a chance to start fresh" Yuffie tried to assure

the boy, whom still looked unsure.

"But what if my friends, Riku and Kai --" the boy protested, but Leon silenced him with more reassurance.

"If your friends arrive here, you can be sure that we will send word to you. Besides there is the possibility that they might be on another world, and only these guys will get you there"

Leon explained to Sora, who glanced over at the two servants of the King in a new light.

"Its true, we have a rocket ship that flies us to different worlds, how else do you think we got here?" Goofy said with a chuckle.

"But we have one rule, and that is no frowning. This vessel runs upon happy faces, understand?" Donald said with an encouraging smile to the boy.

"Ya, Donald's right. You got to look funny like us, see?" the Captain said with a laugh bringing his head level with the wizard, who shoved it aside.

"Happy?" Sora questioned aloud, the boy's lips then began to twitch until a large goofy grin spread across his face that sent the entire group into a fit of laughter, even Leon

cracked a smile.

"Ok. Why not? Ill go with you guys" Sora said with a new enthusiasm.

"In that case we better introduce ourselves properly, I am Donald Duck" the wizard said, extending an arm.

"The names Goofy" the Captain said with another goofy chuckle, extending a hand.

"Sora" the boy said, the boy then brought his hand to rest on top of the others gathered in the center of the trio.

"All for one, and one for all!" Goofy shouted in excitement.

"On that note lets go, we have many more worlds to explore in our journey for the King," Donald said quickly, pausing when he saw the look Sora shot him, "And your friends of course"

the duck finished with a nervous laugh.

"I just wonder where Pluto could have gone" Goofy said behind them as they exited the Hotel, all waving back to Leon and the rest of his gang upon the balcony.

* * *

The Heartless Guardian stumbled through an alley cursing and muttering under his labored breath as he carried his partially destroyed form away from the lights of the town.

The creature's current form had been reverted back to that of Mayor Harn, minus part of the Mayor's face along with his left arm and part of his chest. The Heartless went

through plans of revenge in his twisted mind, burning the image of the boy fighting alongside the King's servants in his mind.

"Your day will come Keyblade warrior, just wait until this old Heartless gets back his strength, just you wait" spat the Guardian, pausing in his advance when a dog emerged in front of

him, a dog with yellow fur, floppy black ears, and a long pink tongue that dripped saliva onto the ground in a steady stream.

"Outta my way mutt" the Heartless growled, ready to kick the creature aside as it began to growl at him fiercly, suddenly a second figure emerged behind the dog, dressed in a dark

cloak with their hood pulled over their face.

"What have you found now boy" a soft voice emerged from under the hood, one of the figure's pale ghostly hands reaching down to pat the animal upon its head in a show of affection.

"You" the Guardian sneered, pointing one gnarled finger at the cloaked figure.

"So you know me" the figure stated, a blade emerging in its hand.

"Indeed, you have been the one the others have talked about, the one searching for the light. Well I hate to break it to you, but Heartless are not supposed to be in any light, you see

we prefer the darkness over everything. Why else do you think we fill the worlds with our power?" the Guardian asked, but the figure only shook their head.

"I am not one of your kind" the cloaked individual said softly, taking a few steps toward the Guardian, whom only smiled his twisted grin at her.

"Thats what you may think, my dear. However as far as I see you are no better than us, nothing more than a walking shell without a soul to fill its skin. Do you really think the Keyblade

warrior would assist you?" the Heartless said with a laugh, but the figure didn't find the words of the creature humorous in the least, and they nimbly sprang forward and sank their

blade into the creature, who disappeared in a cloud of shadow.

"Come on boy" the figure said without a glance back, walking off into Traverse with Pluto at their heels.


	24. The Midnight Order

Across the stars, far from the streets of Traverse Town a shady group of individuals were observing the progress of Sora alongside the servants of the King.

The image's of the adventurers were projected upon the stone that stood in the center of the dark proceeding, while the figures stood hidden in the shadows about it, watching and

plotting.

"That little squirt took down the down that large Heartless! Who would have thought it?" a voice spoke in unbelievment, breaking the silence.

"Such is the power of that Keyblade. The boy's strength is not his own" a thin reedy voice assured the first speaker.

"I don't undertstand, why don't we turn the child into a Heartless? Wouldn't that settle things quick enough" a deep, but oddly feminine voice suggested with a throaty laugh.

"Nevermind the little scallywag, its his friends I am most concerned about. They are lackey's of the King, no doubt about it," another voice added, the snick of metal accompying this figures

words "Just look at them, they all are bilge rats!" the voice cried in outrage, a deadly metal hook striking from the shadows and stabbing into the image of the trio.

"You are no prize yourself my friend" another voice replied with a laugh of pure amuesement.

The fourth voice, that belonging to the hooked individual did not find this comment amusing and in the darkness he drew a blade and held it to the throat of the fifth speaker.

"Shut up you insolent bag of grubs before I --" the fourth figure began to threaten, before a high cold voice cut through the darkness.

"Enough" the voice said, and a dark robed figure then emerged, their skin a sickly greenish color, their head adorned with a headress of demonic horns. The robed woman surveyed the

assembled group through yellow heavy lidded eyes, oen hand wrapped about a staff that the woman held stiffly at her side.

"The Keyblade has chosen the child. Now the only question is whether he will conquer over the consuming darkness? Or shall the darkness swallow him like the others? Either way the

boy could be useful to the plans of our order" the woman said with a wicked smile, her gaze falling onto the image of Sora once more.

* * *

Riku gazed about the spartan furnished dwelling his host had prepared for him. In one corner was a small desk with a few books piled upon it, next to that was a simple bed that lay

beside a window overlooking the rest of the castle.

"Comfortable enough I hope" a cool voice spoke behind the boy, who whirled around to face his host who stood in the doorway with a smile upon her green hued face.

"Its ok, I guess" Riku answered honestly, his eyes dropping.

"You are curious about the fate of your friends, correct?" the woman asked, stepping fully into the room.

"You said, you could help me --" Riku began to remind the woman, who silenced him with a cold stare.

"I know what I said, and I can indeed help you. However it shall be difficult, for the truth is that your friends have both been lost to the darkness that took your world" the woman

explained after a long theatrical sigh.

"You mean they are --?" the boy began in horror, but the woman let out a small chuckle.

"Oh no of course not, if tey were dead then they would be beyond even my help. No they are simply lost in the shadows, there but not there, if you understand me?" the woman said

looking deep into the eyes of the boy, whose gaze dropped quickly.

"So what do we do then, I don't want to just sit here in this tower" Riku snapped, suddenly feeling terror from the look of fury the woman gave him. However the woman's face

soon relaxed again and a smile came upon her ruby lips.

"Whoever said you would have to, I actually thought that you could help me out, and at the same time bring us closer to rescuing those dear friends of yours" the woman continued,

earning the boy's full attention.

"What do I have to do?" the boy asked, meanwhile the woman tried to supress the wicked look of triumph that came over her features.

* * *

**To Be Continued In Kingdom Hearts:Volume Two......**


End file.
